ANACOM has become aware of contacts made by persons falsely claiming to be employees, representatives or auditors of this Authority, or claiming to be employees of electronic communications service providers who have gained access to customers’ personal data through ANACOM.
These contacts are aimed at obtaining benefits, such as the signing of contracts for the provision of electronic communications services or for other purposes, and occur with some frequency, with only the form of approach changing, such as the means of contact (telephone and/or e-mail) or the words used by the person making the contact.
If you are contacted by email or provided with an email address to send information to, be aware that the email address used by the person contacting you may have been created to give the false impression that you are being contacted by ANACOM. An example of a fake email is marialopesanacom@gmail.com.
Please note that ANACOM does not make contacts for commercial purposes in any way, either on its own behalf or on behalf of any electronic communications service provider, nor does it disclose the personal data of service users.
ANACOM deplores and opposes this type of practice, which the Authority takes action against as soon as it becomes aware of it, in particular by alerting users so that they can protect themselves. In addition, a criminal complaint is filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the false identification of these people as ANACOM employees, and the corresponding administrative offence procedure may also be initiated if the facts provide evidence of unfair commercial practices by the companies regulated by this Authority.
In this context, users of communications services should be careful:
- not to provide personal data to people they don’t know;
- to request identification of the person contacting them (name, company and department they represent);
- to ask to be contacted at a later date so that the identity of the person and the purpose of the contact can be confirmed in the meantime; and
- if they are interested in purchasing services, to ask to be contacted directly on the operator’s website.
In these situations, we also recommend that users file a complaint with Polícia de Segurança Pública (the Public Security Police) or Guarda Nacional Republicana (the National Republican Guard) in their area of residence. Alternatively, users can contact the Public Prosecutor’s Office or the Investigation and Criminal Department of the court in the area where the incident occurred.
