MANGALURU: Cyber experts have cautioned WhatsApp users not to get lured by certain messages received from different phone numbers, that have been circulating on the platform, promising part-time jobs, that claim that a person can earn money from home. It is a trap for financial fraud, getting personal information and theft of credentials, they warned.
Of late, even as the world discusses the privacy policies of WhatsApp, cybercriminals are targeting WhatsApp users with the promise of a part-time job, which is a scam. These messages, which come with attached links, claim that one can earn Rs 200 to Rs 3,000 a day, by working for just 10 to 30 minutes.
Cybersecurity expert Ananth Prabhu G said that such messages are often received by WhatsApp users, and it is a trick used by cyber criminals to con people. The term for such a scam is called ‘pain-spotting’. Due to Covid-19, a lot of people are reeling under the financial crisis, and have lost jobs. “Using this opportunity as a new modus operandi, cyber criminals are sending sugar-coated bitter pills to cheat people. The gadgets not updated regularly are most vulnerable. It is better not to click on these messages at any cost,” he cautioned.
Cyber Peace Foundation, a think-tank and grassroots NGO of cybersecurity and policy experts, along with Autobot Infosec Private Limited, had launched an investigation into the matter. Their research team first saw this suspicious message on December 14, 2020, on social media platforms.
They traced one of the IP address links to Alibaba Cloud, in Hong Kong. In all the links, the same redirection and outgoing sources were generated, however, in one link, a different URL was found, and one new IP address that belongs to one of China’s hosting companies, Alibaba Cloud. When the URL is manipulated, an error code is displayed in the Chinese language. The domain names found during the investigation seem to have been registered in China.