The Secretariat of Security and Citizen Protection (SSPC) warned about the so-called ghost lodges in Mexico City (CDMX); it is a new scam that occurs through fake applications and websites.
The Christmas and New Year season not only calls for the celebration of today, December 24, and next December 31, but it is also a period of the year that scammers and cybercriminals take advantage of to acquire personal and banking data of their victims.
In this sense, the authorities recommend that citizens doubt “suspiciously” low offersas well as platforms that contain spelling errors or low-quality designs, and that also request personal information without providing a logical explanation.
Foldable Christmas tree on Amazon (Unsplash)
Ghost accommodations in CDMX: SSPC warns about how this new fraud works in fake apps and websites
Around the ghost lodgings in CDMXthe SSPC explained that this type of fraud occurs through applications or fake cell phone apps and websiteswhich seek to emulate or imitate the pages of real companies.
Scammers take advantage of the Christmas and New Year season to carry out a modus operandi on these apps and websites, consisting of offering accommodations through the following steps, according to the Ministry of Security and Citizen Protection:
- The app or site pretends to have “technical problems”
- The user is then redirected to a secondary page
- Finally, information is extracted from the users’ bank cards
Christmas and New Year: What other types of frauds and scams are there on these dates?
In addition to the Ghost lodgings in CDMX about which the SSPC warned, it is worth saying that there are other types of frauds and scams that circulate on the internet to extract personal and banking data during this Christmas and New Year season.
Some of the methods used in social networks such as Facebook, Instagram o Threads They consist of the following:
- Christmas gift promises: Scammers use attractive images of different products to offer supposed gifts to their victims, who are redirected to a secondary page where their personal data is extracted
- Coupons or gift cards: This type of scam occurs mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom, and consists of attracting Telegram or Pinterest users to answer surveys where their personal data is extracted.