Italian authorities thwart SMS and WhatsApp fraud scams

In Catania, a pensioner received a fraudulent SMS that appeared to confirm a payment from his account. The message asked him to call a number, where the caller obtained personal data and one‑time passwords (OTP). The customer alerted his adviser at Poste Italiane, which promptly secured the account and stopped the attempted withdrawal of funds.

In another case, police in Sicily uncovered a sophisticated WhatsApp scam that used a fake dance‑contest voting link to steal a victim’s phone number and OTP. The perpetrators hijacked the victim’s profile, accessed contacts, and persuaded a relative to transfer €395 to a postal account. Investigators traced the money, identified the fraudster, and warned the public that WhatsApp never requests SMS codes for external contests.

Both incidents highlight the growing use of impersonation and OTP theft in Italy and the importance of rapid reporting to financial institutions and law‑enforcement agencies.