The 6-digit code scam – tricks of cybercriminals
WhatsApp has completely changed the way users communicate. More than 2,000 million people use the service. However, it is essential to keep your account protected. When a platform accumulates so much information about the user and their contacts, cybercriminals inevitably try to benefit from the accounts.
Stealing WhatsApp accounts are increasing. Now, criminals try to trick the users with the 6-digit scam. The Civil Guard already warned last February about the dangers of this cyber scam.
The criminal, who has previously impersonated one of the affected contacts, downloads the WhatsApp application on his “smartphone” and enters the telephone number of the account he wishes to steal. The messaging app sends a six-digit verification code via SMS to ensure that the person who wants to access is the true owner. It is essential to access the platform. These digits, unless the “smartphone” has been infected with malware previously, are not available to the cybercriminal.
Then, the criminal only has to trick the rightful owner of the account into sharing the information. What it does is send a WhatsApp message to the victim posing as one of their contacts. In this, he tells him that he has sent him an SMS by mistake in which six numbers appear, and asks him to resend them: “Hello, I’m sorry, I sent you a 6-digit SMS code by mistake, you can pass me by favour? it is urgent.”
As it is a request from a person the victim trusts, it is easy to fall into the trap and end up sharing the information. It poses a great risk, both for the user and for the rest of their contacts. Using social engineering, the scammer can access much more information through victims’ contacts, such as their passwords for other services.
The Tech Support Trick
The 6-digit scam is just one example of the variety of tricks that cybercriminals use to steal a WhatsApp account. In recent months, a campaign in which attackers impersonate the application’s technical team has become very popular to deceive the victim and get them to share the keys.
The criminals indicate that recently someone has registered a WhatsApp account with the same phone number of the victim. To verify that the person they are talking to is the owner of that account, they ask him to resend them a security code that he will receive in a few minutes via SMS. If the victim sends that code, which is the platform’s verification code, he completely loses control of his account and gives his username to the attackers.
