WhatsApp Scammers are Draining Money Heres How You Can Safeguard Your Account

Gadgets

Jul 31, 2023

India is one of the world’s fastest adopters of technology. Affordable smartphones and internet plans have enabled millions of consumers to use digital services such as UPI, WhatsApp, and others.

Unfortunately, hackers perceive this as an opportunity, which has resulted in an increase in cybercrime over the previous few years. Criminals have started exploiting platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp to steal identities and then extort money from the victim and their friends and family.

The Kolkata Police Cyber Cell has launched an sensation wayfarers on social media platforms to educate and protect citizens from potential online scams. According to the authorities, scammers took wholesomeness of the hype virtually World Yoga Day 2023 and targeted individuals by pretending to requite a self-ruling link to join an online yoga session.

When an uninformed person clicks the link, they will be prompted to enter a six-digit OTP. Once shared, the scammers proceeds remote wangle to the user’s WhatsApp account, which is then used to impersonate and steal money from friends and relatives while ultimatum to be in an emergency.

Some scammers take a step remoter and gravity victims to invest in a bonus cryptocurrency, which is then withdrawn, eradicating the scam’s digital footprint.

Following the discovery of several of these cases, Kolkata Cyber police are now reminding users to be cautious, expressly when getting a message containing a link, and they moreover teach users not to forward these messages to anyone and to report them to WhatsApp.

How to Protect Yourself from WhatsApp Scams

Always be cautious, and never click on an external link received by WhatsApp or SMS unless you are certain. Before transferring money to someone from your contact list, be sure it’s truly your friend or family member. The simplest tideway to succeed this is to video or voice undeniability them.

Never send hair-trigger information, such as an OTP, via a message. Check that two-factor hallmark is turned on for all social media networks. Finally, if you suspect a message, report it to WhatsApp or the platform moderators.