• Source:JND
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JE Technology Desk: Of late, WhatsApp scams are on an exponential rise in India. Topping the chart of frauds on WhatsApp is the infamous hoax part-time job scam of liking videos on YouTube. However, this week was different in the scam world because a new case of fraud through impersonation surfaced. Beyond this, the tech fraternity also giggled at life lessons from a fraudster. Here's everything that happened in the scam world on the Meta-owned app this week.

WhatsApp Fraud in Kolkata

According to a TOI report, a Tollygunge homemaker contacted the cyber cell to report that her WhatsApp account stands compromised, and the fraudster used her profile to extort money from her contacts.

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Kolkata woman explained that she informed the Wi-Fi service provider that her network malfunctioned a few days ago. On June 5, she received a phone call, and the person on the call, claiming to be a service executive, requested her to dial a code with the prefix 401. This code is used to forward phone calls and messages. Next, she was asked to dial a code for the second time, with 67 at the start.

Later, the victim realised that her WhatsApp was hacked and her contacts were flooded with messages that she landed in trouble and required money to reach Odisha. A scammer tries to link the WhatsApp account to their contact number through a verification code. Once the scammer is successful in this endeavour, a fraudster gets access to the contacts, said an investigator cited in the report.

Valuable Lessons from Scammers on WhatsApp

In another instance recently, a Twitter user shared a screenshot of how a scammer turned to life lessons to lure a user into the scam. The scammer reached out to the user with a part-time job opportunity to earn anywhere between 500-5000 in a short period of 5 to 30 minutes after a reply from the user to make friends "that are loyal and not two faced," unlike most people, the chats noted.

In the next iteration, the chats from the fraudster are visible with the message: "Life is not just all about love and friends, think of yourself first, think first about how will you survive in this world. Do you want to earn money or not? just answer my question" followed by a task to rate restaurants/hotels after the user jokingly agrees to work.