Penelope Canonico
07/13/2021 3:19 PM
Clarín.com
Society
Updated 07/13/2021 3:19 PM
Different modalities with a common goal:
steal personal data to commit scams
.
With his sights set on the vaccination campaign against Covid 19, the offender takes advantage of the situation of need, receiving a turn to inoculate, to manipulate his victim and obtain illicit benefits.
It is a variant of the famous "uncle's tale", an extensive mechanism that alerts the entire country.
Now, the audio that went viral in
groups
warns about new methodologies that are based, precisely, on the anguish and anxiety of those who are waiting for the
second dose
: a message with a link to an alleged shift confirmation, which in reality He ends up stealing and blocking the victim's WhatsApp account and, from there, scamming his contacts.
The link comes through the messaging service, supposedly linked to the Care app or from the Health area, which is a false information.
And they request a code that they are going to receive.
Both the Ministry of Health of the City and Buenos Aires reiterated that
the registration and request for shifts to get vaccinated is done from the duly informed media.
Telephone scams that seize personal data
But, in a context of anxiety to complete the vaccination schedule against the global advance of the Delta variant and when only in the City of Buenos Aires there are
60,000 people who have already completed the 12-week schedule with Sputnik V
, while 560,000 They are waiting for the delayed component 2, it is easy to fall into the trap.
By clicking, the victim receives the "code" to complete the inoculation process, but those six digits are actually the WhatsApp verification step to set up
the account on another device
.
Cybercriminals take advantage of the victim's anxiety and distress
Thus, cybercriminals
take over
the victim's
WhatsApp account
, who can no longer send messages or contact any of the people they have scheduled.
Meanwhile, scammers start sending messages to that contact list saying that they have an emergency and that they need an immediate money transfer.
How to avoid falling into the trap
From the Ministry of Health of the Province, they insisted that "the recommendation is the same as always, that they
be informed through the official media"
, this is the website or the app of the Vacunate campaign.
Meanwhile, from the Buenos Aires Ministry of Innovation, which coordinates the system for assigning shifts for vaccination, they stressed that "
at no time does the City, neither by WhatsApp nor by mail, send or ask for any code
."
In this sense, they recalled how the vaccination process is: the user enters the official website of the City and completes the form to register.
This form is integrated into the city's systems, systems that are closed.
The integration allows the sending of the email and the WhatsApp message through the official channels that confirms that you are registered.
When it is confirmed that vaccines are available, the system sends through the same official channels an access link to the shift, an
individual, unique and encrypted link that can only be used by the holder
and that expires after 24 hours.
By WhatsApp, communication is made through the Boti de la Ciudad, whose number is 11-5050-0147.
With this link the person chooses the day, time and place for the vaccination.
The confirmation of the shift comes again through official channels (mail and WhatsApp of the City).
The day before the appointment, the system sends a reminder of the date, time and place, again through official channels.
Some recommendations
From the Personal Data Protection Center of the Ombudsman's Office they provide the following tips to take into account:
- Remember that the vaccine to immunize yourself against the coronavirus is free.
- In case of doubt, look for information in the official channels of the public entities of the City.
- Do not forward messages of dubious origin.
- Do not provide your data via WhatsApp, email or social networks of suspicious origin.
- I shared personal data only through official channels.
$
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