Kaspersky (cybersecurity company) alerted about two new scams via WhatsApp with which criminals steal information from users by taking advantage of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. The former uses the name Netflix and another that claims to be an official notice from the Mexican authorities.
The first scam warns that Netflix will offer free streaming until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The message contains a link that leads to a page that asks to answer a few questions and then share it with 10 more contacts. The goal of the scam is to direct traffic to a website that bills with ads.
The second deception is a message warning that the government will grant payment of “weekly bonuses” for the purchase of food and medicine “on the occasion of World Quarantine.”
“In a contingency situation like the one we live in, cybercriminals are quick to find a way to take advantage of people’s interest and concern; they know that users practically rely blindly on what circulates on the web, something that can obviously generate serious consequences, especially at times like this, when a fake news, such as the one distributed via WhatsApp, can generate chaos” , says Dmitry Bestuzhev, director of the Research and Analysis Team for Latin America in Kaspersky.
Specialists recommend not relying “blindly” on messages that are received especially when you have strange addresses and first check other sources before clicking.
