National alert: dangerous phishing emails circulating in Aruba

ORANJESTAD -A persistent wave of fake emails, known as "phishing emails," is currently circulating.

The Aruban Police (KPA) and the Aruban Security Service (VDA) would like to inform and warn the people of Aruba of the following.

They appear to have been sent by someone you know, such as a friend, family member, or colleague. The email often contains a link or a file, where the criminals try to trick you into using well-known services such as Adobe, DocuSign, or SharePoint to appear extra reliable. These emails are often urgent or urge you to take immediate action.

Anyone who clicks on the link or opens the file gives the criminal access to his/her email account. Once criminals have access to an email account, they send the same fake email to all of that person’s contacts. So it keeps spreading from person to person, from account to account.

What you need to do now

  1. Change your passwords for both Outlook (Microsoft) and Gmail ASAP.
  2. Log out of all devices where you use your email, such as phones, tablets, and computers. Ensure all active sessions are terminated.
  3. Use the web version of Outlook as little as possible in the coming days. If you still use it, always close the window or browser when you are done.
  4. Ask someone you trust for help if you don’t know how to do this. That could be a family member, neighbor, friend, colleague, or your employer.
  5. Report suspicious emails to KPA’s reporting point.

Why is this important?

  • Criminals can bypass your additional security measures (such as Microsoft Authenticator) through these dangerous fake emails.
  • Your personal information, company information, and passwords may be in the possession of these criminals. This information is often sold to commit crimes. Your identity can be stolen to commit various fraudulent offenses.
  • Your online security also protects the security of your family, friends, and colleagues.
  • Prevention is much easier and cheaper than recovering from an attack.

Need for this national alert:

We are seeing a significant increase in victims on Aruba.

By following the above steps, you will protect yourself and help stop further spread.

Alert phishing emails