The European Consumer Centre Czech Republic warns consumers against fraudulent messages that have recently been spreaded via email and communication apps. Their authors claim to be employees of the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC-Net) or specific national centres, including the Czech one. They use fake “legal experts” names, titles, logos (this year relating to the 20th anniversary of the network), and links to real European institutions to make the impression of legitimity.

The texts of the messages are usually written in a quite convincing manner. For example, a consumer who contacted our center with a request to verify the authenticity of one such message received an email from someone who claims to be “Alex Pereira, Chief Instructor of the ECC-Net.”

The sender claimed that older financial transactions were being reviewed within an international audit and that one of them involved the recipient. The recipient was asked to fill in their personal details in a so-called KYC form and send it back, ideally via WhatsApp. Allegedly, this was an opportunity to get money back from a suspicious digital transaction.

Another alleged instructor introduces herself at the email start as Darina Sestinova. However, her supposedly official signature contains two typos: in her name, “Darina Sestionva,” and in the English name of her alleged position, “Cheif regulator” (the correct spelling is “chief”).

Needless to say, neither this person nor this job position exist in the ECC network.Such messages are clearly fraudulent. European Consumer Centres never contact consumers on their own initiative with information about financial compensation, and certainly not in order to carry out unsolicited checks on cryptocurrency accounts. We do not send requests for personal data, we do not charge any fees, we do not communicate via WhatsApp or other unofficial channels. And we certainly do not contact consumers about “blockchain audits.”

Similar scams also occur in other countries – fake emails have been reported by centers in Germany, Belgium, Malta and other.

Fraudsters use names such as “European Consumer Rights Center,” refer to cooperation with the European Central Bank or Interpol, and try to make it seem like there’s an urgent situation needing a quick fix. Pressure and demands for a quick response are some of the warning signs.

Anyone who receives such a message should not reply to it, click on any links, or fill in any details. In case of doubt, you can contact ECC Czech Republic at the link provided below this article.

The basic rule is: official communication from the ECC-Net does not take place via WhatsApp, but from email addresses with the domains @coi.gov.cz and @ec.europa.eu, or from the dispute resolution system set up by the European Commission. The services of the ECC Network are free of charge and based on advice and out-of-court assistance – not on the collection of payments.

Nowadays, caution is the most effective protection against someone misusing our name and your trust in order to fraudulently extract money from you.