This is how easy they can steal money from you through social networks

The social networks They have become a great way to stay in touch with your family, your friends, and even celebrities. However, we have already told you about the dangers that they can represent if you share a lot personal information or if you don’t take care of scams. In fact it is easier than you think to fall into a trap.

Consider the importance of following best practices in security. If you were to fall into a trap of identity fraud The cloning of social media accounts Not only could you lose images and information that you value but you could put your contacts at risk, which is why it is so important that you learn to protect yourself.

And it is that, according to the company cybersecurity ESET, the deceptions of social engineering are still in force and the identity fraud to obtain some monetary benefit has increased in social networks and they share how the computer criminals for you to be careful.

To understand how users act in front of possible tricks, ESET researcher Jake Moore decided to clone his own account Instagram with a spare phone and imitate the actions of cybercriminals. The only difference of her new account, besides the number of followers, was a change in the biography in which she included a text that said “NEW ACCOUNT AFTER LOSING ACCESS TO THE ORIGINAL”.

Later, the specialist began to follow 30 of his friends, 10 of them with private accounts, which required acceptance, and 20 with public accounts. “I was hoping that someone would contact me through another means of communication that was not an Instagram message to check if I had made the request, particularly, due to the role in which I work and the shame to which I could have been exposed if they had cloned my account, but no one did, “Moore said.

Replicating the actions of the cybercriminals, he sent a message to his followers, thanking them for accepting the request and mentioning the incident, in addition to informing them that they had compromised your bank accounts and that he had no money until the problem was resolved. His friends believing that they were talking to the real owner of the account, believed the conversation and offered their help.

“What surprised me the most was how quickly it all escalated and that I was able to fool the person I chose into thinking it was true, without any additional verification. I even got the person to offer me help. This is usually a clever technique used by professional social engineers who play a psychological game to avoid asking for the money directly, ”added the ESET researcher.

Also read: If you receive an email from Netflix with the subject “Notification Alert”, do not open it!

Learn to take care of yourself

In case you find yourself in a situation like the one described above, ESET shares some recommendations on how to keep accounts secure social networks:

As much as possible, reduce the amount of personal information and photos online. It is important to limit the amount of information that is published before it is exposed forever. Is fraud it wouldn’t work the same way in accounts private, although there are some that accept people they do not necessarily know.

Check the content of what you post. It also applies to accept followers, take a few seconds to decide if you are willing for a user to know more details about your day to day. By having a completely public profile you can be subject to dangers like this.

When there is money involved, never accept anything or offer data confidential without analyzing it carefully. It is essential to request validation through another form of communication before money is sent to someone or account or credit card information is shared.

“This scam is not only limited to Instagram, it has also been seen on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, so you have to be aware of the cloned accounts, report them and notify the real owner of the same. ESET is committed to education as the first tool for protection, knowing the risks to which you are exposed allows you to take measures to prevent threats: keeping our systems updated, having a security solution in our devices and knowing the news in terms of attacks, these are measures that help to enjoy the technology in a secure way ”, says Luis Lubeck, IT Security Specialist at ESET Latin America.

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