DIGIVESTASI - As Eid al-Fitr 1445 Hijri approaches, the public is urged to be careful as fraud is rife and has claimed many victims. One type of fraud is the use of various methods to trick victims online. Recently, there have been many instances of criminals posing as fake remittances, thus creating an illegal trust trap. The incident went viral through an Instagram social media upload uploaded by the @terang_media account.

In the upload that received more than 43,000 likes, quoting CNBC Indonesia (4/9), a netizen suddenly transferred Rp 20 million to his son without knowing who sent the money, he said. He had asked other family members, but he still had no idea and believed someone might have accidentally sent the money. 

The next day, I received a call from someone I believed to be a fraudster, asking for my money back. He claimed that the money was mistakenly sent and apologized for the problem. The victim then went to the bank and arranged for a refund of Rp 30 million. However, the bank official stopped the transaction after asking if the purpose of the transfer had anything to do with the family. 

The official said the funds were transferred from an online loan and not a wrongful transfer. He said this is a new type of fraud, where fraudsters steal data and use it for credit transactions. When the victim sends money to the scammer, the scammer takes the money and the victim has to pay the debt to the lender.

In addition, there are many other types of scams that can drain your THR funds.

Scam mode via WhatsApp

Apart from faking fake money transfers, perpetrators often use WhatsApp to ensnare their victims.

Most WhatsApp scams use APK files that are randomly sent to other people's cell phone numbers. The goal is for the recipient of the chat to click on the file, download it, and install the malicious application on their phone without their knowledge.

This hacking technique, known as phishing, is similar to the crime of sending links via email. Online fraudsters hope that the recipient of the email or WhatsApp will unwittingly provide access so that their phone or financial account can be compromised or hijacked. Here are the details:

1. Courier mode

The scam was reported by an Instagram account that revealed a Telegram chat with someone claiming to be from J&T. The scammer sends an attachment with the name of an APK-formatted file that includes the words "VIEW Package Photos".

Anyone who downloads the file will lose the money they have in the bank. Various data including financial data is stolen by the perpetrators.

2. Wedding invitation file
This scam is a hot topic of conversation because many WhatsApp users have fallen victim to it. The APK file, or wedding invitation, is sent to you by a stranger. 
The size of the file or application titled "Digital Wedding Invitation" is 6.6 MB. The scammer asks the victim to open the file and verify the authenticity of the file it contains.

3.  Fake speeding ticket
Some netizens also received fake traffic tickets. There is an APK file titled "Surat Tilang-1.0 apk" in the chat. 
"Danger! If you use this method to send tickets via WhatsApp, be careful of fraud. The @MurtadhaOne1 account said, 'Click the .apk extension file from an unknown person on your gadget. Please do not play' or download," he tweeted.

4. Visit MyTelkomsel
There is also another scam on WhatsApp called MyTelkomsel. This is an application from Telkomsel operator. Victims are asked to click on the APK file that is sent. 
You will then be asked to give various applications permissions such as photos, videos, SMS, and access your account for digital banking and fintech services. 

5. Notice from the bank

Another scam involves announcements that appear to come from the bank. These include unauthorized changes to transactions and remittance rates.

WhatsApp users will receive a link to fill out a form. Through the link, the data is stolen by the perpetrator.

6. Invitation to VCS

Another way is to make a video call sex (VCS) from an unknown number. They are supposed to intimidate their victims. Cybersecurity expert Alphonse Tanujaya, who was contacted some time ago, said this technique exploits people's ignorance of technology and turns it into a threat. "This is essentially blackmail, preying on someone's ignorance and insecurity about technology," he said. "If you have doubts and receive threats, please contact an understanding friend and ask for help in dealing with threats that we do not understand. Don't just follow up on threats," he said.

Drain your account through QR codes

Another commonly used method is kissing, which combines QR codes and phishing. Perpetrators trick their victims into getting personal information and details.

After scanning the QR code, the victim is usually redirected to a specific website. In addition to the ability to display plain text messages, this website also allows you to track a list of apps based on the victim's card address. Perpetrators use this opportunity to lure potential victims to a fake site. This makes it difficult for users to identify the websites they want to visit before going online.

According to Wired, once the culprit is caught, he or she can trick someone into downloading something onto their device. This download compromises the victim's device.

In the next step, the victim will be asked to enter some credentials. The information is obtained from the perpetrator.

This crime is becoming more prevalent because anyone can easily create a QR code. You can create one without any special skills.

How to avoid quiching

However, there are ways to avoid the crime of quishing. The key is to not trust QR codes placed in public places or given to people you don't know where they came from. QR codes with criminal intent can also be detected. This is because scammers usually increase the sense of urgency and concern of potential victims. For example, include the following sentence: "Scan this QR code to verify your identity or prevent account deletion."

Don't forget to enable two-factor authentication for each account. Also, don't forget to sign out of any devices you no longer use.

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