INSS: WhasApp will inform about expertise and retirement – 04/19/2023 – Market

The Minister of Social Security, Carlos Lupi, announced last week that WhatsApp will be used by the ministry and by the INSS (National Institute of Social Security) to inform the population about medical expertise, request for benefits and other guidelines.

Lupi said that the tool will be tested for a month, but did not inform the expected date for the start of the service. No details were disclosed on how this interaction with retirees and pensioners will be carried out. A Sheet sought the INSS and the Ministry of Social Security and awaits the answer.

“We have more cell phones than people. Today everyone communicates through messages. If we manage to use this tool, we will significantly improve communication with the citizen”, stated the minister.

The announcement was made by the minister during a meeting with INSS managers last Friday (14), in Fortaleza (CE)

On the occasion, Lupi also disclosed that the ministry will sign technical cooperation agreements with the ministries of Health, Social Development and Agrarian Development, and the Navy to share information such as the Single Registry.

Currently, the institute has an artificial intelligence tool, Helô, for communication with policyholders, but only for those looking for information on the Meu INSS website or application. The tool does not make contacts with users.

Helô is the institute’s virtual assistant, who works as a helpdesk, exclusively in the online environment. Whoever accesses the virtual assistant is the citizen, through My INSS. However, scammers use Helô’s image to give credibility to the beneficiary, making him believe that the person who is contacting him is the INSS.

Scam prevention

The INSS has already made several alerts about scammers who claim to be from the INSS to obtain data from people for advantages. The body reiterated that it never comes into direct contact to request data, ask for photos or documents to be sent or send links to perform a certain task.

The recommendation is that the person look for the official channels of the INSS (My INSS application and website, telephone 135 or service agency) and disconnect the call, if sought by cell phone. The SMS number used by the institution to contact citizens is 280-41.

In February, a scam using assistant Helô made the institute issue new alerts to retirees. At the time, scammers were pretending to be a false “Service Center”, using the image of the virtual attendant Helô, to obtain personal data from the beneficiaries.

In possession of some information from the beneficiaries, the scammers create a service simulation, using the data checking pattern with the image of Helô and, from this false service, try to get personal data from the beneficiaries.