Recently, cases of fraud using cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies on Telegram, where users are offered to receive money, have become more frequent. Konstantin Larin, head of the Cyber Intelligence department of the Bastion information security system integrator, told socialbites.ca.
“These schemes are often aimed at naive and inexperienced users who do not always know how to spot scams. In such cases, it is easy to become a victim of fraudsters, losing not only money but also personal data. The expert said that bots and fake token distributions, which have become very popular lately, are now especially active.
One of the new types of scams on Pavel Durov’s messenger involves inviting users to Telegram bots with fake rewards. Scammers send users referrals or direct links to Telegram bots, promising to reward them with virtual currency for taking certain actions, such as subscribing to a channel or inviting friends.
“Fraud occurs at the withdrawal stage. Since the money received turned out to be fictitious, the victim cannot withdraw the money received. As a result, the victim only wastes his time and the attackers replenish the channel’s subscriber base,” Larin noted.
The second scheme involves the distribution of fake tokens. This non-fraud strategy is called Airdrop and is used to draw attention to new coins.
In the case of a fake Airdrop, the attacker transfers a small amount of TON to the victim along with a message stating that you must follow a link to receive the money. After clicking, a phishing authorization form opens in TON Wallet and the entered data is transferred to fraudsters who gain access to the victim’s account and wallet to steal money.
The expert noted that in addition to the authorization request, the phrase “seed” can also be requested. There may be a risk of wallet compromise and loss of funds if you only enter the starting phrase. When requesting authorization, there is a danger of credentials being stolen.
“As a result, attackers gain access to the victim’s account, including correspondence history, and the TON wallet, from which they can withdraw all available funds. “It is important to always be careful about the links you receive and requests to enter personal data in order not to fall into the tricks of scammers,” warned Larin. He recommends not entering your data on dubious sites and not trusting promises of easy earnings.
Previously was named The main problem of cybersecurity in Russia.
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Source: Gazeta
Jackson Ruhl is a tech and sci-fi expert, who writes for “Social Bites”. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of technology and science fiction.