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Media: Fraudsters hack inactive WhatsApp profiles of Russians
Having gained access to someone else's account, the attacker starts calling other Messenger users and introduces himself as, for example, a bank employee or a mobile operator employee. After that, he uses various deception schemes, but the goal is always the same. The idea is to steal money from the victim.
According to Dmitry Chernov, Director of Customer Service and Retail Business at VimpelCom, inactive profiles of Russians are at risk. For example, grandchildren install WhatsApp* for their grandparents, while older people do not use the messenger and do not log into the application.
To make themselves look more credible, scammers sometimes change the photos of stolen profiles. For example, replace the photo with the logo of a well-known company. Since scammers use other people's profiles to make calls, it is more difficult for law enforcement to identify them.
The WhatsApp messenger belongs to the Meta company, which is banned in the Russian Federation because it is considered extremist.