Two officials: Fraud in roundabout ways is common on social media. TRA Launches Awareness Campaigns
Users complain of "fake links" to steal their data via social media
Users have expressed fears of having their data stolen, their accounts hacked or the data being sold to marketing companies. Archival
image
Social media users reported that they have received, during the current period, repeated messages, asking them to register their phone numbers and personal data, by clicking on links, to obtain money, discounts and prizes worth thousands of dirhams, explaining to "Emirates Today" that many friends received the same messages, and some of them recorded their phone number and data.
They expressed fears that their data would be stolen, their accounts hacked or the data sold to marketing companies.
Two officials in two information security companies said that fraud in roundabout ways has become a common thing on social media during the current period, and includes sending fraudulent messages through social media platforms, to access personal data or bank accounts to achieve financial benefit, noting that the most common type of fraud on the Internet is to trick users into entering their personal information into a "web page", to get a free gift or promotional discount.
They explained that if the links to these fake sites are clicked, they take the form of banking services sites that the user usually deals with, or impersonate any other popular site.
They asked not to accept friend requests from "strangers", not to click on links or attachments from unknown people, to use strong passwords, to double-verify a user's identity before granting them access to data, and to be wary of messages from unknown sources.
For its part, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) said that recent times have witnessed the emergence of new methods and methods of fraud, explaining that it has initiated campaigns to raise awareness of fraud, to avoid falling victims of fraud and electronic extortion.
Personal data
In detail, Ramy Nour said that he recently received successive messages, asking him to register his phone number and personal data, to obtain valuable prizes, most notably a smartphone of the latest models, worth thousands of dirhams, noting that many friends received the same messages, and some of them recorded his phone number and data.
Yassin Jalal added that he received several messages, requesting the registration of his phone number and personal data to obtain funds of up to 30,<> dirhams, noting that many friends received the same messages, and some of them recorded his phone number and data, but no one received any money, expressing his fears of his data being stolen and his accounts hacked.
Dina Akram pointed out that she received messages asking her to register her phone number and personal data to obtain funds of up to 50,<> dirhams, and discounts in shops, and that a large number of her friends received similar messages, expressing fears that her data would be stolen, her accounts would be hacked or the data would be sold to large companies for marketing.
Fraud methods
Ravicha Chu, chief analyst in security and risk management at Gartner, warned that "fraud in roundabout ways has become common on social media during the current period, and includes sending fraudulent messages through social media platforms such as (Facebook), (Instagram), (LinkedIn) and (Twitter), and the attacker's motive is to access personal data or bank accounts for financial benefit."
"The most common type of fraud on the Internet is to trick users into entering their personal information into a web page to get a free gift or promotional discount," Zhu explained, asking users not to accept friend requests from strangers, not to click on links or attachments from unknown people, because they may be harmful, and to use strong passwords, while adopting a double authentication policy, by double-checking the user's identity, before granting him access to the data, and not using the passwords themselves. for all accounts, because if one of them is stolen, all other accounts can be compromised.
Fake Websites
For his part, the Chief Information Security Officer at Palo Alto Networks in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, Haydar Basha, said that «if the links to fake sites are clicked, they take the form of banking services sites that users deal with or impersonate any other famous site», pointing out that «once the user enters the login information, it is transferred from the fake phishing site to the real site, or the page remains stuck without change, and sometimes it is loaded malware on the user's device, to fall victim to ransomware or extortion to breach their privacy, so the attackers get login information to the accounts, as well as the ability to access the victims' mobile devices."
Pasha advised users to use the multi-factor authentication mechanism, that is, to use two or more keys to access any account, set different passwords for each account using a reliable tool to generate and manage strong passwords, not to share personal information or six-digit verification codes, avoid clicking random links, even if they seem legitimate, and beware of "social engineering" messages from anonymous sources, such as those that make a person rush to take an action or emotionally oblige him to take it, and ban users who send Spam or phishing messages, and report them to the management of the communication application.
For its part, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority warned against fraud and fraud through social media, and said on its official website that «recently witnessed the emergence of new methods and methods of fraud and fraud», explaining that it has initiated campaigns to raise awareness of these fraudulent operations through its official website and social media accounts, to avoid victims of fraud and electronic extortion.
It advised against clicking on strange links or opening attachments from unverified sources, checking the authenticity of text messages, updating subscribers' electronic devices, and avoiding using pirated software or obtaining it from untrusted sites.