A new attempt at fraud has been circulating on WhatsApp for days, and it has apparently been intensifying in the last few hours as thousands of broadcasts of a fraudulent message were discovered that begin with the words “Hello, winner”.
New fraud attempts are usually reported via WhatsApp at Christmas. Therefore caution is advised
This is not the first time instant messaging application fraud has been spread. They are common all year round and you must always use extreme caution, but around Christmas, more attempts at deception appear year after year.
In this case, it is easy to spot the possible cheating, but it doesn’t hurt to remember as there can always be people who are deceived. The fraudulent message is as follows (there may be different versions but they are very similar):
The scam is easy to spot as the message comes first is being sent from an unknown phone number. As can be seen in the picture, the country code +62 is used, which corresponds to Indonesia. If there is no contact in this country even though we can see someone’s photo as their profile picture, this is the first reason to be suspicious, but it is not the only one.
The wording of the text leaves no doubt. First, it refers to the user as «Hello winners“So he doesn’t know his name or identity. It is just trying to outsmart you with some cheap bait: a € 200 bonus and 30 free spins.
Soon it will mean that you will need to make a prior deposit in order to receive this economical prize. This practice is very common in the case of phone-type fraud, instant messaging or classic fraudulent emails: the user is asked to enter a certain amount in order to receive a higher price. It goes without saying that once the money is entered, the message disappears and the promised price is never received.
In this case additionally There are several links included to be accessed by the user. It is recommended never to click on a link that comes from an unknown sender on WhatsApp. Even if this were known, it is wise not to click on a link that does not know what the content will look like when opened. This is exactly why WhatsApp often offers a preview of the article or website that appears when you click the link.
If this type of message arrives for Christmas or any other suspicious message, it is best to delete it and not even interact with the supposed sender. Of course, you shouldn’t redirect or click the links, let alone generate income.
