Police are warning people living in Austria about a new scam which involves fake "police bots" who call up mobile phone numbers and play a recorded message warning the victim about invented crime.
EXPLAINED: Five common apartment scams in Austria
Police report the recorded voice (often in English), usually introduces itself by saying "Police Department" or "Polizei".
It then invents various crime and offers assistance, by attempting to trick people who answer the call into installing remote software. However, the malware installed gives the perpetrators access to all the mobile phone datas.
Police recommend if you receive a call like this, you should
This is not the first scam involving mobile phones in Austria, another scam involves fake SMS messages pretending to be from the parcel delivery service DHL.
READ MORE: Austrian police warn residents of fake DHL message scam
The message typically reads that a “pending package” is available and it is the “last chance to pick it up”, before inviting the recipient to click on a link.
However, the link then installs malware on the recipient’s phone by inviting them to install an app.
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