Photo: Carl Court / Getty Images
WhatsApp has become one of the most used applications in the world and that has resulted in cybercriminals paying attention to it to commit crimes.
This has been reflected in an increase in the sending of malicious links on WhatsApp, as evidenced by a report published by the cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. From the security company they explain that the large volume of users is extremely attractive for hackers since they have a large number of potential victims to deceive and swindle.
It is estimated that annually losses from scams committed through WhatsApp exceed tens of millions of dollars, which makes it an extremely lucrative “business” for hackers.
In Real America News we offer you some recommendations that you should take into account to avoid falling for WhatsApp scams:
one. Confidential information
WhatsApp users must avoid as far as possible sharing personal information with other users . Although the other person may be someone you know, there is a risk that your phone has been compromised by hackers.
Likewise the person cannot know exactly what use could be given to their personal information , so sharing it would result in putting endangered unnecessarily. These principles apply to both personal chats and WhatsApp groups.
two. Unknown Links
One of the most used strategies to commit fraud is to send links to websites that redirect to pages that can impersonate another organization so that the person enters their access data.
For this reason it is essential not to access links received through the application, unless you are sure that the person who sent it is trustworthy .
3. Be wary of discounts and promotions
A strategy used by hackers is to impersonate companies that are offering discounts or promotions that are highly attractive to the victim. For this reason, it is best to treat this type of message with suspicion since it is most likely an attempted scam and that the real objective is to steal your personal data.
4. Security settings
Correctly configuring security settings can also serve as a protection mechanism against possible attacks. WhatsApp allows users to establish parameters that prevent people who are not scheduled from being able to see their personal information such as for example the time of your last connection or your profile picture.
5. Extra functionalities
Another scenario that is recommended avoid downloading variants of WhatsApp such as “WhatsApp Plus”, which promise extra features that improve the user experience.
What these applications actually do is obtain users’ personal information and endanger their security. For this reason, WhatsApp warns that it is not recommended to install this kind of apps.
This may also interest you:
– How to use WhatsApp privacy settings
– WhatsApp: these are the phones on which it will stop work from April
– WhatsApp: now you can listen voice messages while doing other things on your phone