A cyber attack hit the institutional email inbox of theTechnical office of the Municipality of Lomazzoin the province of Como. The episode would have happened between 26 and 28 September and resulted in the sending of emails containing it to a large number of citizens spread across the country requests for payment for non-existent finespresented as sanctions for violations of the Highway Code and, in particular, for speeding.
The case falls into the category of scams based on phishingwith an element that increases its danger: non-messages were sent from a counterfeit domain or from an address similar to that of the institution, but from the real institutional mailbox of the Municipality, temporarily under the control of third parties.
Precisely the originating from an apparently reliable sender makes the fraud attempt more insidious, because it reduces the chances that the recipient will pick up on the warning signals that usually accompany this type of communication. Anti-spam filters and sender checks are also less likely to intercept messages that originate from a legitimate account.
The municipal administration itself raised the alarm via social channels, which issued a warning inviting citizens to exercise maximum caution. The Municipality specified that the sanctions mentioned in the emails do not exist and that it is a real scam. The organization also recalled that any data obtained during the attack could also be exploited through other channels. “We invite you to pay maximum attention to any messages, emails, phone calls that could exploit the data to carry out phishing attempts, scams or other illicit actions”, we read in the communication.
The administration’s recommendations include effectively banning payments based on suspicious communications and verifying the authenticity of any request before providing personal or banking information. The attention, specifies the Municipality, should not be limited to e-mail, but also extended to SMS, messages on other platforms and telephone calls that could be traced back to the affair, for example with fake operators who present themselves to “assist” in the payment.
For clarifications or checks, citizens can contact the Lomazzo Local Police offices directly on 02 9694121. At the moment, no details emerge from the communications released on how the mailbox was compromised, nor on the possible theft of personal data or on the precise number of recipients involved.
