Authorities in Cyprus warn public of phishing scams

Cypriot authorities, including the Police and the Health Insurance Organization (HIO), have issued urgent warnings regarding ongoing phishing scams. Criminals are sending fraudulent SMS messages impersonating the general health scheme (Gesy), urging recipients to click links to update personal information. These malicious messages often appear in the same thread as legitimate notifications from Gesy. Additionally, scammers are circulating fake social media posts on platforms like Facebook and Instagram that falsely claim to be official police announcements regarding the disruption of investment fraud networks. Authorities emphasized that the HIO will never request passwords, login credentials, or payment details via SMS, nor will they require financial transactions through external links. Officials advised the public to immediately delete suspicious messages and avoid interacting with unauthorized links. Earlier, the Social Insurance Services also reported a separate wave of mass text messages attempting to steal banking data. The public is urged to rely exclusively on official communication channels for updates.