The crime consists of a stranger calling your phone with the intention of buying or selling an item and requesting that you forward a code that has just arrived on your cell phone, with various excuses. If you deliver that code, the criminal uses it to take away your WhatsApp account and contact your close friends asking for money in your name.
Coyhaique-. The Criminal Analysis and Investigative Focos Unit of the Aysén Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Economic Crimes Brigade of the PDI Aysén warned the community about a new scam that is affecting people throughout the country and also in our region.
As explained by the chief prosecutor of SACFI, Luis González Aracena, through a message on WhatsApp or by text message, criminals acting covertly, request the forwarding of a six-digit code that can reach the user for different reasons.
Operating mode
For example, this request may be related to the intention to buy or sell something through a purchase portal, after which the criminal makes contact with the victim, inventing that he needs that code that has just arrived to obtain his location or authorize a transfer or other reason, in buying and selling platforms such as Marketplace, Yapo, Mercado Libre or others.
Another situation, which may vary over time and the criminals’ strategy, is related to an alleged error in sending a code to that phone.
This type of deception has also been observed recently in other parts of the country and the world, for which Prosecutor González called on citizens to take the respective precautions. “In this way, strangers have access to the WhatsApp accounts of the people who deliver those codes and begin to request money from their contacts. There are already several victims in the region, ”explained the chief prosecutor of SACFI.
To take precautions
With these types of messages, what the criminals behind this deception are actually doing is obtaining the verification code to register your WhatsApp account on another device.
Once the message with the six-digit verification code is forwarded, the mafias behind this deception will register their WhatsApp on another phone with said code, while the victim will only see a message on their screen informing them that lost access to your account.
“It is important that the community is informed of these issues because that way they can avoid falling into deceptions and adopt the respective security measures,” added prosecutor Luis González.
Then, with all the available contacts, the cybercriminals will begin to request money from the friends of the owner of the phone, through various stories, some of which access and make a transfer of money through their bank accounts.
Activation of two-step verification
To avoid falling into this type of crime, the recommendation is to “keep our WhatsApp application updated on any type of device and activate the second-pass password or two-step verification, a secure and unique key that will allow us to recover the password of WhatsApp in case we want to change devices and get our information again ”, pointed out the head of the Economic Crimes Brigade of PDI Aysén, commissioner Alejandro Muñoz.
On the other hand, in case someone you know has fallen into this type of scam and are using your account to request money, “you should always doubt and if it is possible to call the person to verify that the financial trouble is real and that we are communicating with the person who claims to be. In addition, it is advisable to avoid sending money to strangers so as not to fall into fraud, “added the police officer.
To activate the “two-step verification”, the prosecutor of Focos, María Inés Núñez, explained that first you must access the settings section in the upper right part of the device screen.
Then to the “Account” section. Once inside “Account”, select the option “Verification in two steps”.
At this time, the user must choose a six-digit password, which will be requested the next time they want to register WhatsApp on any device. It is possible that, for security reasons, from time to time the application asks for the password to avoid unauthorized reading of the messages.
“In this way, the account is protected by being associated not only with the telephone number that made the installation, but also with a numeric password and an email address. With these additional measures, if for any reason the user delivers the WhatsApp registration key, the other security layers would prevent a third party from registering it on another cell phone, ”said the prosecutor Núñez.
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