A user has reported to us a message he received through WhatsApp, with an offer of free gigabytes to surf the Internet, which has taken him to a page where he was informed that he had money to collect as a prize for an alleged raffle that since since he never participated.
The alleged sum could be credited once an application that simulates trading (or buying and selling of cryptocurrencies) has been downloaded from Google Play. This app is, or pretends to be, a kind of game to learn how to move digital funds and make fictitious operations. There are several users who have fallen for the deception and expressed this in the comments section of the app on Google Play.
Although in principle no material damage has been detected for those who install the application, the strategy to increase the number of downloads through deception makes it unfair and is one of the very common ways of reaching users on websites and applications that have the sole purpose of scamming users or the theft of information and hijacking of accounts. In this case, the earnings of the developers of this app would be through the ads that the users of the application see, until they realize that they will not have any real money credit.
Recommended reading: 7 tips to detect fake mobile applications
What is deception like?
A person has sent us the alert of a WhatsApp message that led them to a dubious application. He first received the message to his phone number, where he was invited to click on a link to get the gift.
Clicking on the link was redirected to the following page, which at the time of this publication is inaccessible:
We strongly advise against, especially in strange messages and from numbers that are not in the agenda, clicking on links, or giving personal and sensitive information by any means.
On that dubious page, which you reached by clicking on the link in the message, you were asked to enter your phone number. The system simulates loading the data and invites you to share the message with other contacts to advance:
If the person decides to move forward, the fake site asks to perform a supposed verification.
This is where the deception gets complicated, and what seemed to be an accreditation of gigabytes becomes a new redirection to a site that announces that it has won money, for which it urges you to download the app:
A dubious application
Upon clicking, the site takes you to Google Play to download this app that is promoted through illegitimate means.
The type of app that appears after this string of links may vary depending on the IP address or the country from which the person opens the link. In the case that they approached us, open this application of supposed financial education:
In principle, the application has some details that can make it reliable for anyone browsing Google Play. It has generally positive ratings, 10 million downloads, and comments are available from users who use it for what it is: a platform to play at making cryptocurrency investments.
The negative comments are where you can see the number of users who have come to download it, deceived by the promise of real profits, and we can assume that among them there will be those who have gotten there through a WhatsApp contact, although the paths of the Deception can also be through email, misleading advertisements in other applications or in the browser.
WhatsApp, a gateway for scams and deception
Just like this application that is promoted in an illegitimate and deceptive way, at WeLiveSecurity we have revealed cases in which WhatsApp messages are the first contact to defraud users and cause them economic damage, or the installation of different malware through these applications.
The attack modes generally begin in the same way, through unsolicited contact and the invitation to click on links that take us to fake sites, or to deceive the user by impersonating the name of a known entity.
It is also the way in which account thefts begin, which lead to cybercriminals taking control of our WhatsApp to then scam our contacts, and also gain access to other personal accounts that use WhatsApp as an authentication factor.
Tips to stay safe:
It is important to be alert and suspicious whenever a promotion, opportunity, or gift sounds too tempting. Do not click on unknown links and ignore promises of exaggerated profits, strange prizes of strange origin.
Check the security configuration offered by WhatsApp to adapt it to your needs. Stay up to date with the security updates it offers.
If you are going to download an app, check Google Play reviews, review all the information about the developers and do your research beforehand. Be wary of those that promise easy profits.
Install an anti-malware solution and keep systems and devices updated, this will add protection and is a way to have an alert when you enter a potentially risky site.
