People are being urged to look out for fraudulent text messages preying on pensioners professing to offer “Winter fuel subsidy payments.”
The texts are taking advantage of a recent decision by the government to remove the payments, which provide money for pensioners during winter when the temperature drops below a certain amount.
The removal of the benefit was highly controversial, but the government has insisted “tough decisions” need to be taken on spending.
The texts claim to offer a “Winter Heating Subsidy Office“, but no such office in fact exists.
The +370 country code on the number provided in this screenshot to SGM, in fact originates from Lithuania in Eastern Europe.
With it comes a false link which the recipient is directed to in order to “apply”, in reality this is likely to be a phishing link designed to steal bank and credit card information.
Families are thus urged to watch out to protect pensioners who may be vulnerable or less tech savvy.
