Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – WhatsApp account hijacking is still common in Indonesia. This is done by cybercriminals to gain financial gain from friends or acquaintances of the victim.
This Action This action begins by sending messages to potential victims claiming to be people they know or are in trouble.
“In the OTP (One Time Password) Scam on WhatsApp, the hacker sends you a message claiming to be a friend / person in trouble,” said Chief of Subbagops Dittipidsiber Bareskrim Polri, Iptu Jhehan Septiano, to CNBC Indonesia, quoted on Friday (12/3/2021) .
The perpetrators caught the attention of their victims by explaining the existence of a number of emergencies they had experienced. Then after guaranteeing that the person is in trouble, the perpetrator will ask for an OTP.
They describe the message as an accidental successor and continue to lure their victims into continuing the OTP. “The scammers will send a lot of messages to lure you / bring pity to forward the OTP,” he said.
This OTP will be used as a way to access the WhatsApp account. So when the victim shares the code with the criminals, it will be locked from his own WhatsApp account.
In order for the public to avoid this OTP Scam, he appealed to activate the two-factor authentication that is already available on WhatsApp. Besides that, Jhehan also reminded never to share OTP with anyone.
Here are tips so that WhatsApp accounts are not hijacked and avoid naughty hands, as quoted from patrolisiber.id:
1. Enable the “two step verification” feature
This is a phone screen lock feature. By activating this feature, those who enter their WhatsApp account via another device must enter the 6 digit number password. This password is created by the account owner.
How to enable it: Settings> account> two-step verification> enter the 6-digit PIN used to unlock the screen.
2. Activate the ‘Fingerprint lock’ feature
This is a fingerprint scanner feature that is used to open a WhatsApp account. When this feature is activated, those without user fingerprints cannot enter their WhatsApp account.
How to activate it: Settings> account> privacy> fingerprint lock.
3. Change your “Last Seen” to “Nobody”
For truly ignorant people, online status information can be very useful to them. They could just study the victim’s activities on Whatsapp. When they take over the account, they will follow the victim’s online time habits.
4. Set your “Profile Photo” to “My Contacts”
Also be careful with your profile picture. It could be, unknown people can easily use your picture on another whatsapp account.
5. “Deactivate Whatsapp” when your phone is lost
6. Don’t forget to log out of Whatsapp when finished using the “Whatsapp Web” feature
The Whatsap Web feature can be used by bad actors in carrying out actions because it is a mirroring of the cellphone WhatsApp. So it’s good when you’re finished using WhatsApp Web, immediately log out.
(roy/roy)
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