The thief invades cell phones and imitates acquaintances

My dad caught a pixel scam
They sent him WhatsApp as if I was asking for money for his luck and he called me to find out why I wanted $5000
But keep thinking, is he going to give me $5,000? lol

– Skincare babes! (_kakasc) May 27 2022

According to the expert, the conversation used by scammers tends to create a sense of ‘torment and urgency’ in those on the other side.

Often times, they start the conversation by informing them that they have a financial problem and asking for a transfer to pay an urgent bill. They can even send a barcode to give more credibility to the request. Everyone says they will return the value in no time.”
Waldo Gomez, digital security specialist

Although relatively simple, this type of procedure has entered the list of Febraban (Brazilian Confederation of Banks) as one of the most common when we talk about Pixel Tricks.

The Foundation advises people to be careful when disclosing data on social networks, especially with sweepstakes and promotions that ask for a phone number to be registered. Veerappan also recommends being suspicious of messages from new contacts, especially asking for money urgently.

But is it really a hacker attack on a cell phone?

According to Fabraban, no. Fraud attempts registered with pixel identified as attacks”phishing“which consists of deceiving an individual into providing confidential information, and does not arise from breaches of the system, which is a secure system,” guarantees the institution representing the banks.

Phishing uses social engineering techniques that, despite the name, are relatively simple. For example, when in possession of a stolen and unlocked cell phone, scammers can access your entire WhatsApp chat history and can use it to give credence to the scam.

Social engineering can also be used to trick people into providing personal information that ends up allowing access to WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. A common example is those letters offering job opportunities or easy income.

Just this week I actually got a message from 4 people on WhatsApp offering me a job, what is this new scam?

– Strawberry Cake: 3′ (_gatinhawn) June 3, 2022

By hacking social media, scammers can gain access to more personal information, as well as places you’ve been, relationships and the way you talk. This is possible because some of these networks keep the conversations in a virtual space, the “cloud”.

With this data, scammers can mimic the way you write, leading your friends and family to fall for scams.

“The answer is simpler than people can imagine. Personal means of communication speed up our daily lives, but when in doubt, call. If the person is intimate enough to ask you for money, that action cannot be proven by a phone call. Or a personal conversation?”, says Gomez. .

How not to fall for scams

The solution to avoid falling for the Pix WhatsApp scam is simple: just make sure that the person on the other end asking for money is really your friend or relative, either through a phone call or a chat outside of virtual means.

Experts also recommend confirming certain stories or information that only you know, such as where you met, the last time you met in person, or even a childhood nickname that is no longer in use.

However, you can also take precautions to prevent your data from being used to defraud your friends and relatives. “The person who cloned their WhatsApp usually turns over all the information. They don’t activate the two-step confirmation and provide the security code,” warns Matias Naganuma, attorney, digital law specialist and professor at Impacta College of Technology.

Also avoid leaving your life too exposed on social media, as this information can be used to lend more credibility to the scam. He comments, “In addition to having a very good conversation, the criminal usually knows everything about people’s lives. So, they do these tricks because they have everything on hand.”

It is also important to avoid clicking on unknown links and not to share the access codes received via SMS, as they can be the access code to the WhatsApp account.