Be wary of scams after stealing social media accounts
According to a report from the Department of Information Security, fraud by stealing Social Network (MXH) accounts and sending fraudulent messages is one of the 24 most common forms of fraud as of the first half of 2023. So what to do? How to recognize and avoid scams [...] from Be wary of scams after stealing social media accounts
by
Editor
schedule15/07/2023
According to a report from the Department of Information Security, fraud by stealing Social Network (MXH) accounts and sending fraudulent messages is one of 24 most common forms of fraud as of the first half of 2023. So how to recognize and avoid this scam? Let's Anti-Phishing (CLĐ) learn more through the article below.
I. Current status of tricks to steal social media accounts
In early 2023, the Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention Department (ANM&PCTPSDCNC) of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provincial Police said that recently, in the province there have been a number of cases of subjects impersonating financial assets. Facebook account of a familiar person to commit property appropriation fraud.
Last June, the Criminal Police Department of Da Nang City Police also temporarily detained four subjects to investigate property appropriation fraud. By hacking the Facebook social network accounts of about 500 victims across the country, the subjects then impersonated the victims to fraudulently appropriate a total of nearly 5 billion VND.
This is not a new scam and has been continuously warned by authorities at all levels for many years, but still many people become victims of scams because of their gullibility. Island with an amount of up to hundreds of millions of dong.
II. Identifying characteristics and fraud tactics
To be able to take over other people's social media accounts and defraud the account owner's relatives, scammers often use the following steps and tricks:
Collect personal information:
Fraudsters often use methods to exploit personal information from different sources.
This may include collecting names, email addresses, phone numbers and other information through methods such as email or phone phishing or fake websites.
Access and take over social media accounts:
The scammer uses the collected personal information to log into the victim's social network account.
They may use fraudulent methods such as deceiving users by sending fake emails, phishing messages or using password-stealing malware.
Change the account information:
When scammers have access to the victim's social media account, they often change personal information, including name, profile picture, password and email address, to take complete control of the account.
Send phishing messages to your friends list:
The fraudster uses control of the victim's account to send fraudulent messages to a list of friends on social networks.
These messages often contain fundraising content, requests for sponsorship, or requests for sensitive personal information.
Fraud and property appropriation:
Phishing messages may ask the victim's friends to transfer money, provide bank account information, or reveal other personal information.
Fraudsters will use this information to appropriate assets from the victim's friend list.
Spreading scams:
The scammer uses the victim's social media account to spread fraudulent messages to their friend list.
Messages may contain requests for help, such as needing urgent money, personal information, or participating in attractive investment programs. Fraudsters take advantage of the victim's trust and personal relationships to defraud and appropriate other people's property.
Take advantage of hesitation and confusion:
When phishing messages are sent from the victim's social media account, it can create hesitation and confusion in the minds of their friends.
Scammers use this emotion to persuade and motivate unsafe or untrustworthy actions on the part of friends, such as transferring money or providing sensitive information.
There are two easily recognizable characteristics of people who take over other people's accounts to commit fraud:
Lack of accurate information about the victim:
In some cases, the scammer may not provide enough information about the victim in the scam message.
This can cause friends to believe that messages sent from the victim are accurate and of mutual interest, leading to blind trust and taking actions they should not take.
Using unsafe payment methods:
Scammers often request money transfers through unsecured payment methods, including cash transfers, unknown bank transfers, or unverified cryptocurrency services.
This makes tracking and refunding money difficult and creates favorable conditions for fraudsters to misappropriate assets.
III. How to prevent property appropriation
If you are the recipient of a surprising text or email from someone you know, pay attention:
Verify information
Try contacting them directly through other means (phone, text, email) to verify if the message is from them.
Do not use contact information provided in suspicious messages for verification.
Reporting and warnings If you notice any signs of fraud
Please report the affected friend immediately.
Report the incident to the social media platform or email service so they can take necessary measures
If you are the person whose account has been hijacked and misused, please take the following measures:
Immediately change the password of your social network account and use a strong password, including uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers and special characters.
Report problems via social networks or other contacts such as phone, email.
Notify your friends and family about the situation and warn them not to trust or respond to scam messages.
In addition, always stay vigilant and follow basic security measures such as not sharing personal information and passwords with anyone, not clicking on unknown links or suspicious messages, and periodically update security software to avoid security vulnerabilities.
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