Criminals are taking advantage of the proximity of the census to exploit certain individuals, this time targeting census volunteers, whom they send messages to via WhatsApp offering data in exchange for personal information.
The Police in Cochabamba advises against providing any personal data and assures that any legitimate company would not request such confidential information through these platforms.
The National Institute of Statistics (INE) stated that to become a volunteer census taker, one must register through the official website or visit designated offices for training and material distribution.
How do they scam?
A young woman reported receiving WhatsApp messages late at night, stating that if she is a volunteer census taker, she will be provided with data, but before that, she must send her personal information, ID number, home address, telecommunications company associated with her phone line, among other details.
In another instance, a teenager received a call from an unknown number asking for personal information to become a census volunteer. However, the victim alerted the scammer that they cannot provide data over the phone and would approach INE offices instead. After insisting unsuccessfully, the caller hung up.
Deceptive Recruitment
Social media expert Mauricio Méndez explained that this deceptive recruitment, in this case targeting census volunteers, grabs victims' attention by offering sometimes exaggerated benefits.
"It's common for these individuals to attract attention through short messages initially, inviting them to join a company, corporation, or organization where they (victims) can make easy money. They then begin to coax people into providing ID numbers, cell phone numbers, full names, and more. Often, these individuals engage in some form of social engineering to access their accounts," said Méndez.
He emphasized that scammers request this personal information to gain access to victims' email accounts and subsequently their bank accounts. "Once they have access, they can even obtain passwords for bank accounts."
"The issue with social media allows anonymity, and the lack of stringent registration control for these lines perpetuates these types of scams through platforms like WhatsApp," the expert remarked.
He added that the number should be verified before providing personal data. "Different modalities are emerging every day," he added.
Recommendations
The Cybercrime Unit of the Special Force for Crime Fighting (Felcc) advises the public not to provide personal data to anyone and to verify the information received on their phones.
"No institution is releasing numbers for the census, and undoubtedly, criminals are taking advantage of this situation to request data, which they can use to access bank accounts or create bank accounts with cell phone numbers," said Alex Suntura, head of the Felcc Cybercrime Unit.
Suntura added that in case of any doubts or suspicions, individuals should approach any police unit to report the case.
"If there's an attempted scam, they should come to the cybercrime offices, and we will verify the number or links so they can be eliminated to prevent further crimes. It's a preventive measure by the Cybercrime Division to remove these numbers used for scams," said the police official.
No comments:
Post a Comment