“Vote for your daughter”: the request of a friend may cost you an account in Telegram

hearsay

Asking someone to vote for a child in a contest can be a trap. Under the guise of protection from cheating, scammers lure the Telegram login code, gain access to the account and continue mailing on behalf of a new victim. More about this - in the program "Hearing Testing" on ONT.

“Support your daughter”: how the scheme works

On the desire to help and play their criminal melodies scammers. How's it working? You in the messenger, usually Telegram, receives a message from a real friend. My daughter participates in a school contest of crafts, drawings, poems - it does not matter. Please support your voice. There's not much left to win. Here's the link.

What does a person do without thinking it through properly? Correct: clicks on the link, presses the voting button and receives a notification. Like, to protect against cheating, the voice must be confirmed by a unique code that comes in the message from the messenger.

But enter this code on a third-party site or transfer to anyone categorically impossible. This is not a vote confirmation, but a key to your account. After receiving it, fraudsters can take possession of the account.

A real example: a 39-year-old local resident turned to the metropolitan police, who told almost the same story. His Telegram account was stolen, even though he wanted to support a friend’s daughter. Moreover, a similar mailing went on his behalf to other acquaintances.

Why does the message come from a friend

It's simple: he was deceived a little earlier. And now, cyber swindlers are tearfully asking to vote, not a former classmate.

If the victim does not have additional password protection, after the transfer of the code, the account can be in the hands of fraudsters almost instantly. Sometimes people don’t even know what happened.

One call instead of a lost account

So there's an important rule. If you see in the chat a request to vote or support the child in the contest, and on the avatar a familiar face, do not be lazy: call this person on mobile and ask to confirm that he really sent the message.

If it's real, I think a friend won't be offended by the opportunity to hear your voice. If he does not confirm the request, breathe calmly: thanks to vigilance, you did not become a victim of a scam.

Otherwise, fraudulent mailings and requests to “borrow money” can go on your behalf. After all, the main goal of scammers is to financially profit from human kindness.