A new form of scam has been very recurrent in recent weeks in the United States and Latin America. It is about impersonation through social networks, mainly Facebook and WhatsApp, for the theft of personal data. To achieve their goal, cybercriminals take data from networks, such as photos and phones, as well as gain access to the victims’ contacts.
With all this information in their hands, the threat actors put a photo of the victim in the WhatsApp profile, but with another number and began to write to the contacts with the excuse of sending their new number, since they lost the old one. When they gain confidence and make believe that they are actually talking to a friend or acquaintance, the criminals begin to offer the sale of dollars at very low prices.
“I tell you that I have some very cheap dollars to sell you, if they interest you, at $ 3000, it is because I have a very urgent need”, mention the messages posted by one of the victims of this fraud. Upon realizing that it was a scam, the victim went to her bank to report the crime, where they mentioned that these crimes are being reported dozens of times a week.
In the worst cases, victims find out what happens when they receive calls from acquaintances asking about the alleged sale of dollars; or when they are already scammed and the money requested by the scammers has already been deposited into their bank accounts.
Law enforcement agencies mention that these are the most frequent fraud attempts during quarantine, considering that virtual transactions increased dramatically. According to cybercrime specialists, this case belongs to one of the four most common modalities in the pandemic: “Scam, personal data breach and digital fraud are modalities that continue to increase approximately 150% worldwide.”
Posting attractive products at very low prices has been one of the most popular electronic scams for years. When people make their purchases through money transfer, a totally different product may arrive at their homes or nothing may arrive at all, so it is always recommended to buy on legitimate platforms and with the relevant security measures.
He is a cyber security and malware researcher. He studied Computer Science and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2006. He is actively working as an cyber security investigator. He also worked for different security companies. His everyday job includes researching about new cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in enterprise security implementation.