Even in the first week of the year 2022, news about cyber scams remains on the rise. This time, frauds are targeted at WhatsApp, taking advantage of everything from the function of sharing external links in the messenger to social engineering schemes to steal victims’ personal data.
The first hit, known as Rediroff.com or Rediroff.ru, according to a CNBC report, is done by sending a link to a survey that promises awards to respondents when completed.
After entering the link and answering the survey, the user is redirected to a website that asks for confidential information such as name, age, address, banking information and other personal data. In addition, the address also unobtrusively collects data such as IP address and the name of the device used to access the page.
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The CNBC report also describes another active WhatsApp scam, which involves receiving messages from criminals with phrases such as “sorry, I didn’t recognize you” or asking whose number it is.
After the initial messages are answered, the scammers start a conversation with the targets, always trying to gain their trust and eventually get them to share their personal data in the chat.
How to protect your WhatsApp and your data
Both the Rediroff.com scam and the non-recognition scam are tactics of phishing, cyber threats focused on stealing people’s personal and confidential data, thus allowing criminals to carry out frauds such as bank loans and the like on behalf of victims.
In general, although they are new methods of operation, the tips to prevent these scams are still similar to those related to other types of WhatsApp fraud. We list the main ones below:
- Check if the contact is real: Did you receive a message with suspicious content, such as a great offer or supposed problems with your account? Do not click on any links until you verify the authenticity of that contact, as they can often be criminals trying to obtain personal data or steal money;
- Only download the app from trusted places: Google Play on Android or App Store on iOS are the stores where the official Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter and Messenger app are available;
- Never enter your login details into third-party services or applications;
- Keep calm: If you have lost account access, stay calm and contact social media support as soon as possible, describing in as much detail as possible what happened and attaching all the evidence you have available;
- Use two-factor authentication: Enable two-factor authentication on all applications that allow this security measure; thus, if someone tries to log into your account from a different device, the social network will ask for a unique code that you will receive via SMS.
