Recently, car owners in many places have received text messages stating that the vehicles they purchased are being recalled by the manufacturer due to safety issues. The car owner's name, purchased vehicle model, license plate and other information displayed in the text message are all accurate. Is there really something wrong with their vehicle that warrants a recall?
The car owner, Mr. Cheng, said that the text message stated that there was a problem with the air bag and that injuries were increasing, so a recall was initiated. Then it said that if the recall was not carried out, major personal safety risks might be faced. At the same time, the warranty service of the vehicle will be canceled in the future. Please contact customer service within two hours for consultation.
Mr. Cheng said that because he had seen news about car recalls in the news before, he did not have any doubts when he received these text messages and notifications. He clicked on the URL link attached to the notification and entered a dialog box with customer service. He was then induced to download conferencing software for so-called online claims settlement.
At the same time, Mr. Zhang, a Beijing citizen, also received a "recall notice". The notice also accurately stated the car owner's name, model, license plate number, and a screenshot of the red-headed document with the official seal. The so-called customer service also gave three ways to resolve claims.
Mr. Zhang Zhang of Beijing Automobile said that customer service sent three options:
In the first one, a Shanghai customer went to a 4S store for repair;
Second, a Guangzhou customer went to a 4S store for repair;
Third, Beijing customers can only choose to log in to the online QR code and then contact customer service to settle claims online.
Inducing car owners to download designated software
Get money step by step
It seems that there are three choices, but in fact the car owner can only choose the online processing channel. Once you click on the link in the text message, what happens next?
After being forced to choose online claims, the other party said that the recall claims were subject to state supervision, so they needed to be done within the conference software, and the car owner had to activate the corporate payment function to receive the claims. To activate this function, you must first transfer funds to the designated account.
Car owner Mr. Zhang: He first asked me to verify my account and sent a virtual transfer. He said I transferred 11.4 yuan to him and he returned 11.4 yuan to me. He said it was no problem and there was no shortage of money in the account.
The car owner then conducted a second transfer test in accordance with the other party's request. They never thought that the so-called test code required by the other party in the transfer was actually the transfer amount. The actual amount transferred was far from the small amount test mentioned previously.
Car owner Mr. Cheng: My brain suddenly shut down at that time, so I just followed the other party’s guidance. He said that your transfer timed out, so I looked at my account and saw that 200,000 yuan was missing, so I knew that the money had gone out.
How to prevent such precise entrapment fraud?
The so-called vehicle recall is actually a scam carefully planned by criminals. At present, some defrauded car owners have reported the case and the case is under investigation. So, how to prevent this kind of precise trap-style fraud?
According to the Beijing police, in recent cases reported, fraudsters mainly sent false recall information to car owners by sending mobile phone text messages and iMessage messages, and then used vehicle safety hazards and warranty expiration to create a sense of urgency, inducing car owners to click on phishing links and submit ID cards, bank cards, and SMS verification codes to steal funds.
Wang Jia, a police officer at the Anti-Fraud Center of the Criminal Investigation Detachment of the Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau: He first obtained the basic information of the car owner through illegal means, such as phone number, vehicle model, etc. When receiving these fraud-related text messages, after scanning the QR code, the identity will be verified first, and the verification will be passed before proceeding to the next step. Therefore, some car owners found that entering the real information about their vehicles was indeed verified, so they were confused.
The police reminded that regular car companies will not handle claims through unfamiliar websites or online meetings for vehicle recalls, nor will they ask car owners to pay their bills or transfer funds to unfamiliar accounts. Once you receive a similar notification, be sure to verify it through official channels, and do not provide verification codes or transfer money easily.
According to the police, if you receive vehicle recall information, you can verify it through three channels:
Contact familiar 4S store staff for verification;
Call the official phone number of the car company for verification;
Enter the vehicle information on the official website of the Recall Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation to check whether there is a recall.
Criminals take advantage of social concerns
Do not trust information from unknown sources
It is understood that on November 4 and November 6, the Defective Product Recall Center of the State Administration for Market Regulation issued multiple vehicle recall announcements, involving nearly ten brands. According to relevant announcements, car companies will conduct free maintenance on the vehicles involved, and solve the problem by adding fixtures, changing and improving parts, upgrading software control programs, and replacing some assemblies. Criminals took advantage of the social concern caused by the centralized recall and forged false notices to commit fraud.
At present, many car companies involved have issued statements, clarifying that these so-called recall notices and attached documents are not officially released, and reminding car owners not to be fooled.
(CCTV reporters Zhao Xuerong and Li Linsong)
