Recently, a person in Bikaner, Rajasthan received an APK file of a wedding card from an unknown number on WhatsApp. When the young man opened it, the message was from someone he did not know. He thought that someone had sent him this card by mistake. But he couldn't resist the temptation to open the card and look at it.
But the marriage card received from an unknown number cost him dearly. After about 4 days, Rs 4.50 lakh was withdrawn from his bank account, after which the victim lodged a complaint with the cyber police.
A police investigation revealed that the marriage card was actually a spam sent by scammers. While the young man was reading the marriage card, the scammers were planning to hack his mobile and wipe his bank account.
This is a new and unique method of cyber fraud. As the wedding season approaches, cybercriminals are preying on people by sending wedding cards on messaging apps.
So let's go In today's work news Speaking of which, what is this wedding card fraud? You will also know that-
- How can we recognize it?
- What precautions are necessary to avoid this scam?
Expert: Rahul Mishra, Cyber Security Advisor, Uttar Pradesh Police
Q- What is a wedding invitation scam?
Answer- The wedding season is going on across the country. People are busy with many things during marriage. In such situation, many times we don't get time to send wedding invitations to friends or relatives house and instead send e-cards online on WhatsApp. As soon as people see the message, they download the e-card without thinking. Cyber criminals are taking advantage of this and making people their victims.
It sends an APK (Android Application Package) message to people on WhatsApp. It is a file format used for applications running on the Android operating system.
When you read marriage card with APK, a suspicious application is downloaded in your mobile in the background. Due to which cyber criminals hack your phone.
question- What precautions should be taken if a wedding card comes on WhatsApp? Answer: The trend of sending wedding invitation cards through WhatsApp has grown rapidly in recent times. Everyone sits at home and sends invitations to their friends or relatives through online messages. If you receive such an APK message on your phone from an unknown number, be careful. This message may be a scam.
Keep these things in mind given in the graphic-
Question- How to identify if there is an unknown application in the phone?
Answer- Many times such application gets downloaded in our phone due to APK file, which can damage the phone. Such apps can hack the phone or download malware. Hackers can gain complete control over the phone through the APK file. Such apps work in the backend, due to which most of the users are not aware of it.
However, to identify it, you can take the help of Google Play Store's Play Protect feature. It scans the smartphone and provides information about the hidden apps in the mobile. If your phone has any kind of suspicious app, this feature will give you its information on the screen.
- First of all open Google Play Store in your smartphone.
- Now click on your profile icon.
- Now go to menu section and click on Play Protect option.
- As soon as you click on Play Protect, a page will open for scanning. Click on the Scan button on it.
- Now you will see Scanning in Progress… Phone is written while scanning.
- If there are no harmful apps in your phone, you will see a status of No Harmful Apps Found.
- If you don't get this status, information about that harmful app present in the phone will appear on the screen.
Q- What is the difference between APK and PDF? Answer- PDF (Portable Document Format) is a file format in which image and text information can be saved. While APK file format is used to store software packages for Android operating system.
This file format is required to install and run Android apps. A wedding card PDF usually does not contain any links. It has PDF written on it.
If you get any such PDF or message asking you to click on a link to download the e-card, don't fall into the trap. This could be a scam.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
