There are repeated cases of fraudsters falsely claiming to be employees of Statistics Austria. They attempt to obtain personal data or gain trust by contacting people by telephone or sending phishing messages.
Currently, there has been an increase in fake phone calls in which alleged representatives of Statistics Austria claim to be conducting a ‘study on sleep’. However, the aim of such calls is not to conduct serious surveys, but to obtain sensitive information.
There has also been an increase in phishing attempts in the digital realm, with emails designed to give the impression that they originate from Statistics Austria. These are usually designed to spread links to manipulated websites or to request personal data.
Statistics Austria never conducts surveys in which personal data such as passwords, bank details or access data are requested over the telephone.
If you are selected for a Statistics Austria survey, we will first send you information by post or digitally to your electronic mailbox (‘Mein Postkorb’). If you receive a phone call without having received such information beforehand, you should be particularly vigilant. Ask the person on the phone for their name and the title of the survey and contact our Infopoint (+43 1 711 28-7070 or info@statistik.gv.at) to make sure that the person is an employee of Statistics Austria.
Fake emails are currently circulating from a supposed Statistics Austria email address. Recipients are asked to participate in a study on international economic relations in an email with the subject line ‘Anforderung von Daten zur statistischen Auswertung’ on behalf of Statistics Austria. The fake emails are deceptively similar in design to those from Statistics Austria. The email addresses used to send them, daten@austria-statistik.eu, data@statistik-gv.at, daten@statistik-at.eu, at@daten-statistik.eu as well as daten@statistik-aut.eu, do not belong to Statistics Austria. Email addresses from Statistics Austria end with @statistik.gv.at (full stop instead of hyphen).
The number of phishing messages and malware is constantly increasing. The term phishing is a combination of the words ‘password’ and ‘fishing’ and describes the attempt to obtain sensitive data via fake messages. Such messages (e.g. emails) often look like official communications at first glance. Recipients are usually asked to disclose personal information.
How can I recognise potential phishing or fraud attempts?
By the sender:
By the content:
If in doubt, visit www.statistik.at and contact info@statistik.gv.at.