Warning To All WhatsApp Users... Delete This Message Immediately

Turbo January 12, 2022 January 12, 2022
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Description: The team at WABetainfo, a website that tracks changes and features on the free messaging app WhatsApp, and pays close attention to everything that hap
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Warning To All WhatsApp Users... Delete This Message Immediately
WhatsApp Users


The team at WABetainfo, a website that tracks changes and features on the free messaging app WhatsApp, and pays close attention to everything that happens on WhatsApp, has spotted a new method of phishing through the application, in which hackers send conversations aimed at building relationships with users.


According to the site, a chat often begins with a simple message that says, "Sorry, who are you? I found you in my address book." When the scammer gets a response, he will then try to gain the trust of the WhatsApp user, slowly trying to extract more and more personal data which may end up leaving the victim at risk of being blackmailed.


The WABetainfo team decided to lure the scammers to find out what personal data they are looking to obtain. After chatting for a long time, scammers started asking to be added as a friend on personal accounts like Facebook and Instagram. If they do, it will give them access to their full list of friends and close contacts.


It is believed that scammers then use this to try to blackmail the victim by threatening to send offensive images that they may have obtained or simply create fake images through software that enables this.


In order to protect yourself from this type of fraud and blackmail, if you receive any WhatsApp chats from people you do not know, do not reply and delete the chat without delay.


Social Engineering Method for WhatsApp Fraud

The previous method of fraud may be similar to the method of social engineering, in which cybersecurity experts stated that hackers try to convince the account owner that they are a family member to gain his trust in order to gain access to his chat account, and once he has taken over, he repeats the trick with other people, By impersonating the user with the stolen account in order to hack more accounts on the popular messaging app.


During this type of scam, someone may call you and tell you that one of your relatives is in trouble and is just an intermediary, and that your relative is asking you to transfer money as soon as possible because he needs it either to guarantee or to pay hospital costs, and that the matter cannot be delayed to save your relative.


The person may even pretend to be your own relative. The Chartered Commercial Standards Institute (CTSI) had previously warned people about this type of fraud, in which a woman named Alison was asked to transfer £2,300 to someone she thought was her son.


"This isn't the first time I've seen this type of message, and it's very deceptive," said Catherine Hart, a chief officer at CTSI. "Scammers are experts at exploiting the emotional vulnerabilities of the audience, and this is a particularly cunning example of that."


Alison received a message that appeared on her phone claiming to be from her son. The first message said: "Hi mom, I dropped my phone in the toilet (sad emoji) This is my new number." Alison says she did what most parents would do and immediately replies wondering if it was really her son?! This was soon followed by a message confirming this.


Then the next day, the person claiming to be her son sent her a letter asking for money up to £2,600, and explained that he needed to repay a particular loan. Alison says she didn't doubt the message for a moment, but tried to call her son again on the number she got to make sure everything was okay.


Alison added that every time she tried to make the call, the person on the other end kept saying that he could not talk and constantly pressing her to pay the amount quickly, which made her more worried about her son and made her rush to send the required amount, but fortunately for her, she forgot She clicked Confirm Final Payment, and she was able to identify that it was fraud when the fraudster asked her for a photo of proof of payment."


“When you receive a message like this from WhatsApp, always be super suspicious when it comes to money,” says Catherine Hart. “Alison did the right thing by trying to call the number to verify, but as we can see, scammers are so adept at getting the person to take quick action, you almost lost out.” money because of it."


The first thing you should do when exposed to this type of fraud is to turn off the phone and contact your relative directly, and if he does not answer, call another person who may know his location, and if you are sure that he is okay, do not wait and file a report at the police station and report the number of the fraudster.


How Do You Secure Your Account on WhatsApp?

Cyber security experts have justified the occurrence of these hacker attacks during the holiday period, that some users during that period abandon their account security and caution in order to celebrate with family and friends, making them vulnerable to hacking easily.


  Cyber security experts have indicated that to avoid the risk of being hacked, WhatsApp users should follow the following:


  • The need to secure their accounts and update them constantly.
  • Lack of confidence in the sender of the message.
  • Beware of clicking on the links attached to messages to prevent their accounts from being stolen or lost forever.

Previous WhatsApp Warning About Scam Messages

Cyber ​​security researchers have previously warned of fraudulent messages on the WhatsApp application, trying to deceive users and steal their money. According to the British newspaper, “The Sun”, a team of researchers from the famous “Kaspersky” company specializing in cybersecurity and anti-viruses in the Russian capital, Moscow, explained that they discovered an increasing number of messages that falsely claimed to be from different sides, and that users should be careful. when opened.

Typically, scammers pretend to be online delivery companies, send messages to their victims containing fraudulent links, ask them to click links that lead them to fake websites, and then ask users to enter bank account details, credit card or other sensitive information.

The researchers pointed out that websites that ask for payment from the recipient are one of the most common methods used by fraudsters in order to steal people's money.

Many consumers were receiving text messages and emails from delivery companies due to their reliance on “online” delivery due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and thus hackers relied on creating many fraudulent websites to deceive victims with delivery messages. of different merchandise.

They explained that the fraudulent messages may be an invoice from the postal company, customs fees, anything that requires payment from customs duties until shipping, and when trying to pay for the service, the victims are transferred to a fake site and their money is stolen.

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