In an alert published on the Attorney General's Office (PGR) website, the PGR's cybercrime office reports that the messages are not from Continente or any entity or server authorised to issue them, and that they invariably originate from a masked phone number, legitimately owned by a third party unaware of this criminal activity.

This phishing campaign aims to obtain credit card details from indiscriminate victims and begins with the sending of fraudulent messages to numerous recipients.

The messages include information designed to mislead the recipient into believing they were sent by Continente supermarkets. They entice them to take advantage of benefits granted to loyalty card holders that are about to expire, encouraging them to immediately access the link provided, which always contains the phrase "cartaocontinente."

Such messages should be ignored and deleted without reply. If card details have been provided improperly, the issuing bank should be contacted and the card cancelled, the MP also states.