Authorities in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have recently revealed a new scam targeting the “State Services” portal, as reported by them. Fraudsters are posing as educators or school administrators, contacting parents under the guise of updating electronic journals, student lists, or profiles on Spherem. By using personal data of school staff, sophisticated technology, and number spoofing, scammers aim to appear legitimate.
These criminals instruct parents to inform their children that they will receive a call from school for the supposed “updates.” When the child communicates with the scammers, they manipulate the child into divulging a confirmation code sent via SMS. This code is then utilized to hijack access to the individual’s account on the Public Service portal, enabling further illicit actions, as stated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs advises the public to validate any information received through official communication channels to prevent falling victim to such fraudulent activities.
Spherem, the company behind the portal, clarified that system updates take place automatically on the user’s device and are not triggered by any external parties. The platform’s representatives emphasized that SMS codes are never employed for such updates, especially pertaining to “public services.” Official information about service upgrades is disseminated solely through system messages for informational purposes. Moreover, all school-related communications are conducted within the Spherem platform, where user verification protocols are diligently enforced.