Watch out! Whatsapp scammers drain accounts, this is Tech’s mode – 10 hours ago

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Digital crimes with various modes to drain victims’ money keep popping up. One of the new modes is by sending an invitation on WhatsApp to the victim to download a file which turns out to be a file (.apk).

The Ministry of Communication and Informatics (Kominfo) has revealed a number of other modes that the public should be wary of. The public must know about the characteristics of this mode of crime so that they can protect themselves better so they don’t become victims. The following are several modes that the public should be aware of so they don’t end up biting their fingers because the account is drained.

1. Bombastic Offer

The Director General of Informatics Applications at the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Semuel Abrijani Pangerapan said that one of the characteristics of fraud is offers that make no sense or are bombastic. For example, offering cellphone prices that are much cheaper than market prices.

“Don’t be fooled by unreasonable offers, the price of a cellphone was Rp. 10 million, it could be Rp. 2 million for me. It’s definitely a scam,” said Semuel at the Check Account First Transaction Later event, quoted Thursday (8/8/2023).

2. Phone, Chat, or SMS are not clear

Semuel asked the public to be vigilant when receiving unclear messages from unknown people, because this could be a form of fraud. He said this fraud mode can be done via telephone, WhatsApp and SMS.

“For example, invitations are unknown, those who are married don’t know each other. It’s so annoying that people just play with the clickers,” he said.

3. Social Engineering

Semuel said another mode of fraud is social engineering. Fraudsters will use the weaknesses of their victims to be able to commit crimes. An example of this mode is mom asking for credit. “Using social engineering, our weaknesses,” said Semuel.

Apart from Kominfo, the Financial Services Authority also shared the modes of crime that customers should be aware of. Some of these modes include:

4. Info on Changes in Bank Transfer Rates

The fraudster disguises himself as a bank employee and informs the victim of a change in transfer rates. They will be asked to fill out a form link requesting personal data such as PIN, OTP, and password.

5. Priority Customer Mode

Fraudsters offer customers to upgrade their status to become a priority customer of a bank. Victims will be asked to provide personal data such as ATM numbers, PINs, OTPs, CVV/CVC numbers, and passwords.

6. Counterfeit Consumer Services

Scammers disguise themselves by creating fake social media accounts using the name of a bank. They appear when there are people who submit complaints about bank services. The fraudster then offers assistance and directs the victim to a fake website or asks for the customer’s personal data.

7. Smart Behavior Agent Mode

There is also a mode of offering the services of a clever behavior agent without complicated conditions. The customer will be asked to send a certain amount of money to get an EDC machine.

OJK also reminds the public not to provide personal data to those who claim to be bank employees. Apart from that, only use genuine applications and contact official bank services or financial service institutions.

Police Appeal About Phishing

The Directorate of Cyber ​​Crime (Dittipidsiber) Bareskrim Polri Headquarters appealed to the public to be vigilant when receiving SMS messages claiming to be from WhatsApp. The message usually contains information that the owner of the number has won hundreds of millions of rupiah in prizes. The message also contains instructions on how to get the reward. The sender will include a link and ask the owner of the number to click on it.

Bareskrim stated that this type of message should be strongly suspected of being a phishing trap. Phishing is a fraudulent method that aims to steal the victim’s account. The victim’s account can suddenly be taken over after the link is pressed. Bareskrim strongly urges the public to never click on the link.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]

(wur)