On Thursday 16 January 2025, the Grand Ducal Police issued a warning in relation to fake requests to pay fines by SMS or email circulating in Luxembourg.
Recently, the police have received an increasing number of reports of people receiving a payment request by email or SMS stating that a fine has not been paid. The message threatens victims that the fine will increase if they do not pay immediately.
The police recalled that state actors never send such messages and that fine warnings are always sent by post.
The police offered the following advice in the context of this and other scams:
- do not be pressured by the threat of a fine or an increase in the fine;
- take the time to check a message and, if in doubt, show it to someone else;
- messages that contain typos or have anomalies in the wording may indicate a scam;
- in case of doubt, contact the administration, institution or company in whose name the false message was sent through the usual contact method or channel, e.g. via a contact form or an official email address or telephone number.