Written by Harjas Singh Chopra
Have you ever received a strange text message from a close friend asking you to complete a strange online activity? Although many of us would go out of our way to help them without asking any questions. , unfortunately that’s exactly what the scammers want.
One Westview student said he was asked to copy and paste a link. It seemed like an easy task, so they asked a friend to help them. “I did that, but I didn’t know that I would accidentally click on that link and get locked out of my account. Why did I then post an inappropriate photo on Instagram? I received a text message from a friend about it and realized that I had indeed been hacked.”
In this scam, after taking full control of the victim’s account, the first thing the scammer does is change all of the victim’s passwords and prevent the victim from accessing their account. The scammer then sends a message to all of the victim’s followers asking them to complete strange tasks like filling out an application or copying and pasting a link to a website, and the victim asks them to do this or I claim similar benefits. As a result, they eventually gain access to the victim’s friend’s account, starting a chain of events.
But what do scammers gain from all this? By gaining access to a victim’s social media accounts, scammers can obtain the victim’s passwords, date of birth, and if they are using the same password. You can also visit other possible websites. From all this information, they can create a fake identity, pose as the victim and withdraw money.
One victim said, “My friend needed to borrow $20, so I clicked on their Venmo link and gave them the money because I’ve known them for a while.” But the link was a hoax and instead My account has been hacked.” Fortunately, the victim quickly changed her password and no money was stolen from her account.
If you click on such a link and realize you’ve been hacked, whether it’s Instagram, Discord, or Venmo, always go back instead of giving up, such as changing your password with another authentication method. I need to look for a solution for this. Additionally, enabling two-step verification is one way to avoid hacking. Many apps and websites increase security by enabling two-step verification, which also requires another code to log in. Enabling two-step verification on your most important apps and websites can help protect you from fraud.
Scams on the internet are more common than ever, and teens with access to technology are especially vulnerable to internet scams. It’s helpful to know the different types of scams that can occur online, but it’s also helpful to know how to avoid them. In the next article in this series, we will talk about more such scams and some strategies to protect yourself and your loved ones from such scams.
