Two WhatsApp Scams That May Cost You Your Bank Information

WhatsApp is a social media giant that has the largest amount of subscribers among all other instant messaging apps. We could always rely on this app to make the user experience as intuitive as possible. However, this ease of use comes at a cost. The fact that this app allows sending functional external links is being used by scammers.

Scammers were especially active during the holidays since during those times people become much easier to persuade and many more people are using the app. Aside from sending malicious links, scammers often try to start a conversation to extract critical information. Thus, it is important to be wary when you receive a message from someone you don’t know.

The new scam that takes advantage of the working external links is the “Rediroff.ru” scam. Once a user clicks on this link, they are instantly congratulated on having won a gift. In order to claim this prize, the user has to send this link to 5 other WhatsApp users. The website automatically collects vital information and uses gullible users to affect more and more people.

The other scam usually starts with an innocuous message that might say “I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you” or something similar. Once a person replies, the scammer will try to gain the person’s trust and trick them into sharing their personal information including their name, age occupation, and links to social media accounts. This information is then later used by scammers in a variety of ways.

Have you ever been targeted by a scammer? Did you ever fall for any of the scams and lose money as a result? Tell us how you were able to protect yourself from such attacks in the comment section below.