ISLANDERS are being advised to “remain vigilant” against potential scammers impersonating senior politicians on social media.
In a statement, the government said it was aware of Facebook accounts using the names and images of ministers “for advertising purposes”.
“To avoid misinformation or scams, please ensure you are following the Government of Jersey’s official social media accounts,” the statement continued.
“We urge everyone to remain vigilant, as impersonators may attempt scams. The Government of Jersey will never request personal information via private messages.”
The warning comes just weeks after the Jersey Cyber Security Centre sought to make Islanders aware of cryptocurrency scams, where scammers were using fake online news articles – purporting to be from the Jersey Evening Post – in an attempt to trick those who saw them by claiming that they could make large sums of money.
Some of the articles included images of politicians alongside false statements, such as “Jersey residents will start receiving income from taxes”.
At the time, JCSC director Matt Palmer warned that the fake adverts were part of a “broader campaign of cybercrime” involving similar scams aimed at other small jurisdictions, including the Isle of Man and Gibraltar, as well as South Africa.
Yesterday he said: “Scammers are once again targeting Islanders with sensationalist social media adverts using images of States Members. This most recent wave is fuelled by malicious actors wrongfully gaining access to legitimate social media accounts and using them to run scam adverts. This is not unique to Jersey: we are aware that similar activity is happening in at least five other European countries and territories.
“Islanders should be wary of ‘clickbait’ headlines, as these are often used by scammers to grab your attention. Check the sources or the accounts you’re interacting with. Are they based locally? Do they seem legitimate? Finally, be wary of posts with basic errors in grammar, language or terminology.
“If you are concerned by a scam post, you can report it to JCSC. If you have lost money to a scam, you should report it to the States police.”
JEP editor Andy Sibcy said he believed scammers were aiming to lend credibility to their efforts by fabricating a link from a long-established news source.
“Scams have become much more sophisticated these days, and making a link to a trusted news provider that’s been around since 1890 is the latest way of encouraging unwary Islanders to give away their personal details,” he said.
