Silvio Santos: Scammers use server death to ask for money via WhatsApp

The death of presenter and businessman Silvio Santos last Saturday (17) is already being used by criminals as a bait for scams on WhatsApp. A screenshot of a case of alleged fraud using the name of the Abravanel family was published on the social network X (former Twitter) on the same day as the death of the owner of SBT.

The message on WhatsApp states: The person behind the phone number is none other than Patricia AbravanelShe is the daughter of Silvio Santos and is mainly responsible for the presentation of the programs that are under the responsibility of her father.

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK You want to kill Silvio Santos so bad, my friend pic.twitter.com/DP3G6ZcMsw

— Kevelin Gomes (@kevell1m) August 17, 2024

Claiming that there is difficulty in “accessing the heritage” asking for cash donations Conducting the funeral arrangements of the server.

This type of phishing scam is quite common on WhatsApp and involves a transfer request via Pix for a variety of reasons, often using the victim’s own contacts, such as parents and siblings. Below you can see the full message content, with obvious errors in Portuguese and punctuation.

“Hello, good day, I’m Patricia Abravanel. My father died and we haven’t been able to access his inheritance yet and we need money for the funeral and burial, if you can help I’ll send you my pix key”

SBT warns against scams

On Sunday 18, during the program in honor of Silvio Santos, SBT made an official statement confirming the existence of the scam and warning viewers. The person who made the warning was Celso Portioli, who currently manages Domingo Legal.

???? URGENT: Celso Portiolli says live on air that scammers are asking for money in the name of SBT. pic.twitter.com/SDjVrrFUDp

— Brenno (@brenno__moura) August 18, 2024

“Attention, they are asking for money on behalf of the publisher or the Abravanel family. SBT is not doing this. These are criminals, these are criminals, malicious, fraudulent people.. (…) Be careful, do not fall for the scam,” said Portioli.

The message itself makes no sense: the Abravanel family is not experiencing financial difficulties that would make it difficult to carry out the funeral arrangements for Silvio Santos.

According to the request of the called server Senor AbravanelThe station’s founder was buried on Sunday, In a ceremony that follows Jewish rites and is limited to close friends and family.