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Rising Cases of WhatsApp Account Takeovers – What you Need to Know

- by Wiz Avenue - 40 Comments.

In recent times, there have been an increased incidents of individuals falling victim to social engineering and sharing their WhatsApp verification codes with malicious actors, leading to unauthorised access and account takeover. One hundred and eighty-seven (187) reports have been recorded as of April 2024, equalling what was recorded for the entire year of 2023 according to the Cyber Security Authority of Ghana (CSAG).

Below are How they Operate:

  1. The culprits impersonate familiar contacts or authority figures (often with the rank of administrator of the groups the future victims are members of);
  2. They also creates convincing messages to trick their victims into providing their verification code. Some of these methods are:

            -Notifying the victim through messages that their group platforms are upgrading and asking them to give out the code that they
receive.

            -They make a phone call to the victim, having received a sent security code to stop their account being hacked, and then asking them
for the code.

           – They tell the victim that they have received mobile money (momo) and that they should give the code that was sent so they can get the
money

           – They drop URL in WhatsApp group and tell the group members to click it and update their info by giving the code they will receive

     3. By simply sharing the code, the criminals have successfully taken over the victim’s account and can now use this to conduct any
transactions on their behalf.

      4. he criminals then impersonate the victims and defraud their contacts

      5. In some cases, the malicious actors perpetrate Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) Swap fraud wherein, they impersonate the eventual
victim to a mobile network operator and acquire a new SIM card. The victim loses the ability to communicate altogether, while the
malicious actors potentially also gain access to one-time passwords (OTP) and mobile wallets

Below are recommendation by CSAG

  • Never Share Verification Codes: Treat your verification code like a password; share it with no one
  • Enable Two-Step Verification: This adds an extra layer of security to your WhatsApp account. To enable it, go to WhatsApp > Settings > Account > Two-step verification > Enable. This will prompt you to create a six-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) that will be required periodically and whenever you register your phone number with WhatsApp again. Keep this PIN confidential.
  • Educate Friends and Family: Share this information with your friends and family, especially those less familiar with online scams. Awareness is crucial in preventing such incidents.

Incase of  fraud of such nature, contact the CSA as follows:

The CSA has a 24-hour Cybersecurity/Cybercrime Incident Reporting Points of Contact (PoC) for reporting cybercrimes and for seeking guidance and assistance on online activities, Call or Text – 292, WhatsApp – 0501603111, Email – report@csa.gov.gh

Source: CSA Ghana

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40 Comments on “Rising Cases of WhatsApp Account Takeovers – What you Need to Know”

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