How to protect yourself from scammers in Luxembourg

Typically, scammers contact the victims by phone in order to obtain credit card data. Yes, the fake «bank protection services» work in Luxembourg too. They may also try to sell an unnecessary domain name or some low-quality product for an inflated price.

Various kinds of schemes involving Internet domains are popular in Luxembourg. Occasionally scammers send letters to site owners. The lease term of the domain is coming to an end, and it is necessary to pay for the renewal. The letter looks quite official. And the invoice written in it, of course, is fraudulent.

Alternatively, criminals may want to buy the domain from the victim. The price will be expensive, even too much. But first you will be asked to transfer a relatively small amount of money to the "customer" for transaction costs.

These schemes most often rely on the victim's carelessness. And little knowledge of how the purchase and sale of Internet domains work.

A well-known to many people kind of fraud. A person is contacted by representatives of the fake bank/police/government agencies. They request personal information and often ask for banking information too, scaring you with all sorts of troubles. Naturally, as soon as the criminal obtains the data, the bank account of the victim is emptied.

It usually entirely duplicates the web page of a bank or government institution, but the web address is not the same as that of the official structure. The site, of course, asks you to enter your login/password/plastic card information.

A phishing site can almost always be detected just by checking its domain name against the bank's usual Internet address. There will always be some differences in the address of a phishing site.

Every Internet user receives advertising messages. They may still be dangerous. Some spam messages contain hidden malicious files and links to contaminated resources that steal users' data.

At times, scammers send out invoices and payment reminders for contracts that never really existed.

A «shadow bill» is one type of counterfeit. It is a sales offer but registered as an invoice. You can read the truth on the phony paper itself, as it is usually spelled in fine print. By filling out and sending this invoice the victim simply buys something from the scammers.

Scammers send letters to entrepreneurs inviting them to update their data in the business directory. Paper, digital, or even a modern Internet platform, it doesn't matter.

But if you read it thoroughly, it turns out to be a real contract. And by signing it, the entrepreneur agrees to pay a registration fee. Sometimes for years with automatic renewal of the contract.