Six rules have been provided to Indian users of social messaging giant WhatsApp, which is owned by Meta, to assist them protect themselves from the platform’s growing number of frauds and scams. The business released its most recent campaign, “Stay safe with WhatsApp,” in an effort to encourage online safety. Scams of all kinds are proliferating in India.
The advice provided by the instant messaging service owned by Meta focuses on WhatsApp’s essential safety features and the best ways to avoid texting scams. The six recommendations are to enable Two-Step Verification, block and report suspicious accounts, modify group privacy settings, manage personal information through privacy settings, refrain from sharing personal information with anyone, and just pause and consider your actions before taking them.
Also read: WhatsApp missed call scam alert! Here’s how you can protect yourself
1. Two-Step Verification: WhatsApp’s Two-Step Verification function adds an extra degree of security. Users must create a six-digit PIN in order to enable this feature, which is required for resetting and validating their WhatsApp account. This feature protects users from phishing assaults and hacker takeover attempts.
2. Block and Report: Users must report questionable accounts and messages in order to stop scams. Users of WhatsApp can easily report questionable accounts. It’s preferable to get in touch with the business or individual directly if an unidentified sender asks for strange information or makes an unexpected request. In the interim, refrain from transmitting money or divulging personal information. WhatsApp has the possibility to immediately block and report the sender, unlike conventional SMS or other platforms, ending the scamming cycle. Users should also block and report such accounts and refrain from picking up calls from ominous domestic or foreign phone numbers.
3. Group Privacy Settings: Through WhatsApp’s privacy settings and group invitation mechanism, users can protect their privacy and stop unwanted group inclusions. Users control who can include them in groups. A person can leave a group chat if it seems suspicious and report it if they find themselves in one.
4. Hiding Personal Information: By modifying their privacy settings, users can manage their online identities and personal data. Users have the option of controlling who can access their personal information, including their Profile Photo, Last Seen, Online status, About, and Status. By deciding who can and cannot view them when they are online, individuals may also manage their online profile. One way to protect their account from malicious users is to limit who can see their personal information to contacts.
5. Don’t Share Personal Information: It’s important to protect your privacy and personal information online. Users should refrain from disclosing private information such their address, phone number, passwords, credit/debit card numbers, and bank account details.
6. Pause and Consider: Scammers frequently employ impersonation, bogus phishing websites, and a sense of urgency to deceive unwary people into disclosing critical information. It’s crucial to pause and consider your options before responding to a questionable SMS or request. Users should pause to determine whether the request is odd and refrain from clicking on dubious, untrusted sites.
Job vacancy scams are one type of WhatsApp scam.
As the name implies, this fraud promises unwary WhatsApp users atypically high-paying employment that need no effort. But it’s just a means to reveal financial information. Scammers who utilise WhatsApp entice unwary users with incredibly huge incomes. For the easy work of enjoying YouTube videos, they will pay up to Rs 10,000 each day. Even after people have liked the videos on YouTube, they will share the links to those films and request that they post screenshots on WhatsApp and Telegram.
The user will be prompted for their account information when they share the screenshot via their Telegram account in order to make the required payment. That, however, is only a ruse to obtain private banking information that can be used to empty the user’s account.
Scams that use WhatsApp include video calls.
This con is more nefarious and frequently uses blackmail on unsuspecting users. The user will receive video calls from unidentified callers, and the majority of the accounts will include images of appealing individuals. The other party will begin playing crude movies, frequently ones that are related to sex, as soon as the user picks up the call, and the scammer will begin screen recording. This gives the user the idea that they are seeing objectionable content.
The fraudster then demands money from the user and uses threats to coerce them into paying the ransom by threatening to post the video online and send it to their contacts.
source from: msn.com
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