"These messages are not sent by the SNS – National Health Service, nor by any other entity authorised by it to do so. Although they claim to originate from that public entity, this mention is false and serves the sole purpose of convincing victims to make undue payments to third parties – the latter then improperly seize the funds," the Attorney General's Office warned today through its Cybercrime Office.

According to the statement released by the Public Prosecutor's Office, the scam scheme targets "indiscriminate recipients" through the "massive dispatch" of messages via the WhatsApp platform, which allege debts owed to the NHS and present Multibanco references for payment within a short period of five days.

According to the statement, "with this formulation, the criminals intend to induce an urgent response to the message, precipitating an impulsive and thoughtless payment of the amount mentioned."

"To this end, national network phone cards, often with the calling number hidden, or prepaid phone cards are used. The sender is always referred to only as 'SNS24,'" the PGR further explained.

The Multibanco references presented for payments "are requested by the criminals from financial institutions available on the market, which provide such services to third parties." A financial intermediary based in the Netherlands, MediaMedics B.V., was identified in this scheme.

"The purpose of the perpetrators of these crimes is to deceive less attentive victims, convincing them to make payments that are not due. It is recommended that you carefully evaluate any electronic messages of this nature that you receive. You should not respond to them; instead, such messages should be reported to the Public Prosecutor's Office or criminal police agencies. Furthermore, messages of this type should be ignored and not followed up on," the Public Prosecutor's Office warned.