Most of them are probably happy about messages from old friends who contact us via Facebook Messenger again after a long time. But be careful – they could be fraudsters!
We trust good friends. That is why we are probably less skeptical when a friend sends us a message and a link via messenger and asks us: “Is that you in the video?”. Exactly this trust is exploited in a scam, which is currently increasingly about the Facebook-Messenger is spread. We click the link, give ours Facebook-Data and unintentionally pass it on to the fraudsters behind this link.
Facebook-Messenger: I would “chopped“?
Strictly speaking we are not “chopped“. Nobody gains unlawful access to our computers or ours from outside Social-Media-Accounts. As bizarre as that may sound, we give out our data voluntarily, so to speak. This method is called Phishing.
Well-known scam – How does “Phishing“?
Like fishing, a bait is held in front of our noses. In this case, it is the link that is supposed to hide a video on which we can be seen ourselves. We bite like a fish and, so to speak, surrender ourselves to the angler. He just throws out his proverbial fishing rod and see who bites.
This mesh is not new, but it appears again and again at irregular intervals and is slightly different. The principle is actually the same every time. We become one Social media– Network lured out with a link and asked on a website to enter our username and passwords on an external page. These pages see that Social media-Network (e.g. Facebook) very similar. Dem User it is pretended that he is still within the network and therefore on safe Terrain is located.
Who is the “phishing” victim?
If we get the dubious message from a friend, we haven’t done anything wrong. The fraudsters have not yet received our data. Only the person who sent this message fell into the trap. But you can help them.
Let your friends know to stop scammers!
In this case, we can do a good friendship service to our friend and point out that fraudsters have got their data, because: Our counterpart may not yet know that fraudsters have got their data. It is best not to use the affected messenger, but to use another method, such as a phone call, an email or another messenger service.
How can I “Phishing” protect?
If curiosity has gained the upper hand and in a moment of weakness we have clicked on the link, entered our data and then realized that there are scammers hiding behind it and not a supposed video with ourselves, we should act as soon as possible. That means: change the password immediately! If we wait too long with this, the scammers could beat us up, change the password and get us out of our own Social-Media-Accounts “Lock out”.
If we haven’t fallen into the trap yet, we can minimize the risk by getting one on social media Two-factor authentication to adjust. This means that if we want to log into a network or want to change our password, then we not only need a password, but also a second source that only we have access to. With which we then confirm our login or a password change. That can be a Code who comes by SMS or by e-mail. There is also, for example, at Facebook also the possibility to be warned if someone tries to log into our account in an unknown location.
Links, logos, misspellings – recognize the scammers
Even if the fraud and Phishingattempts are well made at first glance, there are often ways to identify fraud attempts in advance:
- Does the link match the Website? Even if the page looks confusingly similar, we can often tell from the links or addresses of the websites that it is a fraudulent website. Is the link cryptic or the name of the Website If you misspelled it, don’t click!
- Pixelated or “false” logos? Behind the logos of Websites mostly stuck Designerwho designed logos that cannot be recreated without special graphics programs and skills. The original graphics are so-called vector graphics. That means: You adapt to the size and resolution of the Website and are dynamic. Copied logos cannot adapt and are rigid. Therefore these can be used at Fake-Mails can also be pixelated, unclean or blurred. Some scammers also try to recreate logos from companies or websites. Here it can help to match the logo or lettering with that of the originalWebsite to compare. If we see a difference here, this can also be an indication of a false message or Mail his.
- Spelling mistake? Atypical formulations? Phishing– and fraudulent emails are often written by translation programs or by someone who does not write in their native language. If more and more strange formulations or spelling errors appear, we should be careful!
These tips are more related to Phishing-Mails and not on Phishingtry within Messengerservices.
What happens after the fraudsters have my data?
The goal of the fraudsters is usually to collect as much data as possible and sell it for a profit. After the fraudsters have received our access data, they send the same message via the messenger function to our friends, who are then prompted to do so with the link and a bait, such as the current message “Is that you in the video?” clicking on the link and revealing their own details. This method works on the so-called snowball principle.
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