For several weeks, a scam has continued to spread on Whatsapp and particularly targets adults and elderly people.
Whatsapp may be a great messaging application, but the solution created by Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) is also a real breeding ground for spam, bots and other malicious acts. Hackers are not lacking in ingenuity in devising new schemes that can steal your personal data.
Among the latest scams that are very widespread on Whatsapp, we still find calling your bank, but also adding to discussions to try to seduce you and steal your banking details and draw on your savings.
A new type of attack has been causing carnage for several weeks. The latter attacks not only users, but also their families. The latter begins with a simple message sent to your mobile: “hi dad, I broke my smartphone”, “hello mom, I changed my phone”… The message differs, but you understand the general idea: usurp the identity of one of your loved ones in order to gain your trust and make people believe that the rest of your exchanges come from someone you know.
By pretending to be someone from your family, the hacker will ask you to add them on Whatsapp. The latter will then try to extort your personal data, particularly banking data, to draw on your savings and scam you. The malicious person may also try to send you links to make you download pirated software and infect your computer or phone.
This scam has continued to proliferate for several months. The site Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr notably reported that this type of technique, called “phishing”, remained the most used method for online scams since it represents nearly 38% of cyber threats.
If in doubt, do not hesitate to call your loved ones to ensure that they are the ones who sent you the suspicious message. Immediately block the contact in question and do not hesitate to use the “report user” button by clicking on their profile and scrolling down to the bottom of the available options. By dint of reporting, the pirate profile will eventually be deleted by the application’s moderators.