Scams, scams and more scams. All the benefits that the digital age brings us coexist with problems such as the fact that, almost every day, we are exposed to fraudulent calls, texts and emails. The problem is when They arrive via reliable apps like WhatsApp. If the victim is overconfident or ignores the operating mode crooks, is lost.
Thus, institutions are spreading more and more fraud prevention measures. The National Police itself uses social networks for this and in one of its latest messages it broadcasts the three main scams linked to WhatsApp and which, if not known, can present significant risks.
The strange WhatsApp group in which a stranger adds you
Strange job offers coming in both one-on-one and group chats
WhatsApp groups with friends, family, or study or work colleagues can be tedious, but at least we know they’re safe. The problem is that, as the police themselves remind us, we sometimes find that a stranger adds us to a strange group in which they talk about juicy job offers that end up being fraudulent, cryptocurrencies or any other suspicious topic.
Whatever the main axis of the group, they ultimately all have the same mission: access your payment information and even request payments directly. They hide behind all kinds of excuses, some more credible than others, but in all cases it is dangerous. Not making a payment and not providing any personal information are tips to always follow. Not even your first or last name.
As an additional tip, there is prevent strange numbers from adding you to groups. This is something that can be done from the WhatsApp application on iPhone (also on Android) by going to Setting > confidentiality > Groups and making sure it is only marked My contacts.
When WhatsApp Support (or another company) calls you
Another increasingly common WhatsApp scam is related to video calls or calls from strangers. It turns out that an unknown number is calling you and asking you to be part of the WhatsApp team, your telephone company or your bank. As with almost all scams, there are different excuses, but they tend to have a single mission.
This mission is none other than that of asks you to share your screen to solve whatever problem they invent or gain access to a new feature that logically doesn’t exist either. The goal is that at some point you end up entering a sensitive application like banking or any other, you see log in and keep your access codes. After that, they can steal your account and even your money.
So the advice here is clear and obvious. Generally never answer these calls and even less if it comes from a foreign number. If you do so, always be wary of the interlocutor and do not share any information under any circumstances (and do not share your screen either).
That old friend who writes to you after a long time
This is probably the most common, oldest and most varied scam. Basically, someone writes to you who, without telling you their name, claims to be a known or familiar person. They try to gain the victim’s trust with things as simple as asking the totally confused person to say something like, “Oh, are you so-and-so?” Yes, the scammer will say that he is so-and-so and therefore he will try to deceive you.
Sometimes the scam does not start directly on WhatsApp, but with an SMS
The famous “Hello mom, my phone is broken” is another one of these scams. In short, and like the previous ones, the ultimate goal is to ask you for money. His suitcases are lost and he has no cash, it’s your son who was just robbed or someone else. They always manage to find a more or less convincing pretext for the victim to trust and end up making a transfer.
One of the most dangerous variants is the one in which They ask for a small amount between 5 and 20 dollars. This can serve to gain trust because, in the end, it doesn’t seem like a major loss. “If he’s a scammer, he’ll ask for a lot more,” the victim may think. But no, because later they can ask for more and, if they don’t, they don’t care, since in the end, by deceiving many victims, they cause a big riot.
So, whether they ask for a penny or thousands of dollars, you should always be wary. If you really believe that the person writing to you is someone you know, surely they can provide you with plenty of reliable evidence. Never send them money or provide personal information about yourself, your family, or the person claiming to be the scammer.
In Applesfera | How to have WhatsApp on an Apple Watch
In Applesfera | iMessage on iPhone: what it is, what it does and everything you can do with WhatsApp’s rival messaging platform
