Important! Beware of these top 3 trending digital scams
Have you ever been the victim of any digital scam?
If yes, then it’s okay. you are one among the majority.
If no, then congratulations. you are doing great. Stay alert and still never underestimate the attacker.
The whole purpose of this article is to educate and spread awareness among the people who might be the next victim.
In this article, I am going to explain the top 3 types of digital scams that are trending in India at the moment and I have seen it personally or it has happened with any of my friends or relative. I’ll try to explain some important tips to avoid being scammed. This short article can save you or your friends/family from a cyber attack, so it is better to be prepared.
Why online scam rate rose exponentially?
Before diving deep into the types, let’s find out why and how several online scams have rosed.
This pandemic has pushed many people from cash to digital mode of payment, people started using the digital mode of payment more than ever.
The employment rate among the youngsters keeps on declining, which eventually increases the crime rate.
As everything nowadays is digital, it is easier than ever to manipulate anyone to fall into the trap.
Types of online scam
There are plenty of other traps or scams that need to expose, but I will only be explaining the 3 types of scams that I have ever experienced or heard from any of my friends.
1. Fake/Replica shopping websites (Whatsapp spin wheel trap)
This is one of the most common online scams happening right now.
There are several fake mostly retail websites in the market that create replica websites of famous brands like Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra, etc, and try to manipulate the users.
I am pretty sure that you must have seen annoying WhatsApp forwards of the spin wheel which says to spin the wheel and win big prizes, you will always win in the second or third attempt of the wheel because it is all pre-programmed by the attackers.
Okay, now you spin the wheel and you won the prize, right? what after that? here comes the second trap, you need to forward the link of these fake websites to a specific number of contact to be eligible for the prize.
After that, they will ask you for some personal details like email or even phone number so that they can create more trouble for you in future
Target audience
Everyone.
What do they get?
They get money from every click on their website, In Digital marketing language it is known as PPC (Pay per click). The more people visit their fake website, the more traffic will be generated which results in more revenue for them.
How to identify them?
They always try to create a replica model of the original website but still, there will be some hints by which you can catch them.
a. There domain (website) name will not have .com or .in at the end, instead, they will have some random letters at the end.
b. There must be a slight error in the domain name itself like they will replace o with 0 as both look similar. For example, amaz0n.in, flipkarrt. xyz
How to react to it?
a. If it is being forwarded by someone then there is a high chance that it is a scam attack, be cautious if you get these types of forwarded messages.
b. Verify on the brand's official social media page or app. If they actually are giving away the prizes for their Xyz anniversary then they should have posted somewhere on their social media handler or their app. Brands don’t ask to forward their message to 15 contacts.
c. Check their domain name and immediately stop the person from forwarding it more.
2. Debit/Credit card OTP Scam
Okay, by the previous scam method they got your phone number, email ID, and your name, right? now you have been targeted deep into their funnel.
People imagine, what will the attacker do only with the name and the mobile number? I’ll try to explain what can be done with just a name and a mobile number.
This is the second most common type of scam that I have heard from my relatives and friends.
They’ll call you as they have your mobile number and repeat your name to very that it is you. They will try to gain your trust by repeating your name.
They will then claim that they are calling from Xyz bank and your bank has been deactivated because of some reason, and to reactivate it you need to send them their debit card details. They are well trained to make you believe that they are calling directly from the bank and they need your details to reactivate the account.
They will first ask for your debit card number, and that's not the main problem. But after that, they go for the CVV number which is the 3 digits main code printed behind the debit card. If you have given your debit card number to the attacker, still he can’t do anything to your account. But if you give your CVV number to anyone, he has good access to your account and can do many things which can deduct your funds.
Even if you have given him/her the CVV number, you are still a bit safer side, but after that, they ask for OTP which is the most important part of the scam attack. If you give them your OTP they can literally make your fund balance go 0, they will now have full access to your card.
Target audience
Housewives and teenagers
What do they get?
a. They will get all the money withdrawn from your account to their account.
How to identify them?
a. If you get a call and they claim that your bank account has been suspended, try asking them that you will go directly to the bank to resume it. If they appear to be conscious and tries to force you then it is now your time to be more conscious.
How to react to it?
a. Repeat after me “Never share your CVV or OTP with anyone”. Repeat this 10 times until it truly gets stuck in your mind.
b. Banks never ask for CVV or OTP, if anyone is claiming from the bank then ask them that you will visit the bank and resolve the issue.
c. Inform any relative or friend about the incident.
3. Digital payment request scam (Business or OLX)
This is the third most common type of scam that is known to me.
As the name suggests, it is mainly related to digital payment methods and the targeted audience for them are manly businesses and yes, their favorite platform is OLX.
First, they will find your business on Google or anywhere where it is visible, they will then contact you on your business number and will talk with you as a customer and as they want to buy your product or services.
They’ll close the deal of the purchase and will ask you that they will pay for it via UPI platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay, or Paytm mostly.
They will then send you a request instead of payment, when you receive a request for the payment, you may fall into the trap assuming it to be the fund that you were supposed to receive, the payment platform will then ask you to enter the UPI Id, when you asked them about it they will say you have to enter the UPI Id to receive the money, but in reality, it is actually opposite. The same amount will get debited from your account which was supposed to get credited.
Target audience
Businessmen
What do they get?
No doubt, they will generate direct money from it.
How to identify them?
a. They will accept your product quickly without much negotiating, they will act like they want a cheap price but eventually don’t hard negotiate it.
b. They will say they cannot come to your shop or office and instead prefer online payment, they will even say that they will collect the product later and are ready for prepaying.
c. They will ask you to enter UPI to receive the payment.
How to react to it?
a. Repeat after me “Never enter UPI ID to receive money”
b. Always try to avoid the first transaction online with an unknown customer.
That’s it, I hope it helps.
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Content by: Mohammed Junaid Khairdi
Instagram: @junaidkhairdy
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/junaidkhairdi
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