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Communication in messengers takes up a large part of our lives, as people meet, sell goods, spread news, and advertise through messaging.
Since most communication has moved online, scammers have also become active there, spreading their fake advertisements everywhere:
- about high incomes;
- about lottery winnings;
- about high-income jobs;
- about promising trading on cryptocurrency exchanges;
- about fake courses and others.
Fraud in Messengers
Scammers manipulate people so skillfully that they quickly find victims in social networks.
The most common way to attract a victim is phishing - sending advertisements with links to sites or applications, these links are fake. By clicking on such a link, the user connects to the messenger and the scammer begins their attack. For example, if someone was looking for a job in social networks and followed a link about an enticing job offer, at the very least, they connect to a bot. Its job is to collect personal information about the user, for example, they might be asked to provide payment system details, passwords to e-wallets or bank cards, card numbers, supposedly for verification or salary pay-in.
Scammers also often offer to register on online casino platforms and play games there under the pretense of work, telling about special schemes they have developed that can help win with a small investment.
If the victim agrees to these earnings, they initially deposit a small amount when registering on the online casino platform, which allows them to win. Excited by the win, the user begins to trust the scammer and their fake winning scheme. After which, they start depositing large amounts into the account, but constantly lose. Thus, the scammer gains additional earnings from each registered user. It's difficult to prove that the person was involved in a fraudulent scheme in this case, as it all shifts to the fact that they voluntarily agreed to play and fund the account.
Scammers
Scammers use messengers to send scam messages. When a user receives a message requiring them to immediately follow a link and register to:
- save their account;
- avoid losing money;
- win a prize;
- get a big discount on a product or service.
In most cases, such links may redirect to other messengers with an offer to subscribe. Thus, scammers gain subscribers and offer dubious income or earning schemes on their channels. The more users click on such links, the more opportunities scammers have to lure victims.
A large number of scammers have now appeared on online dating platforms. Posing as a person of the opposite gender to the interlocutor, scammers use social engineering methods. During communication, they find vulnerable spots in the character, behavior, or desires of the opponent. After which they skillfully manipulate, forcing them to perform necessary actions:
- disclose confidential information,
- transfer money to an account,
- spread false information,
- provide personal financial data,
- reveal passwords and codes to internet resources,
- provide their messengers for the scammer's purposes.
Fraud via WhatsApp
WhatsApp is one of the popular social networks for communication, users send messages, exchange pictures, and photos. Many scammers are in this network.
They send messages with fake advertisements, attracting users to groups they have created. They skillfully steal users' personal data using fraudulent schemes in this messenger, with the priority for scammers being the sending of messages from acquaintances. The scheme involves hacking accounts and sending messages from acquaintances to friends asking for financial help or to lend money. Many, upon receiving a message from acquaintances, believe them without calling back and transfer money, thus enriching scammers by deceiving Messenger users.
Telegram Scammers
In the Telegram messenger, a similar scheme is also widespread. Scammers have also mastered the scheme of sending bot messages – where instead of the user, artificial intelligence equipped with special software communicates to conduct conversations on set topics. In most cases, these are financial questions or eliciting personal information.
To avoid fraud in messengers, you need to follow these rules:
- Do not believe promises from a stranger who wrote first;
- Carefully study the information;
- Do not follow suspicious links and offers;
- Verify information with acquaintances who wrote;
- Do not believe suspicious earning schemes, such as trading, casino games.
It is necessary to realize that all actions of scammers are aimed at deception and enrichment at the expense of naive users.