Seems like Cyber fraudsters are increasingly targeting the UK populace in a hope of making easy money. Because from the past few weeks, some innocent victims are being receiving fraudulent SMSes that seek virtual purchase of products from reputable shopping platforms and get a commission for boosting sales, which is completely false.
And as the shopping season fast approaching the said tactic of fake promotional campaign is said to surge by 50-60 percent in coming weeks.
According to a source from NCSC, around 69 victims have reported to have fallen prey to the fraud and the number might rise as more are expected to report on the fraud.
In one incident, a C-level employee fell prey to the fraud, despite being a head of technology for a reputed firm. And most times, the targeted victims were middle-aged and senior citizens.
Going by the details, the fraud starts with an SMS where the fraudsters promise a part-time job offer to earn extra income. They ask the victim to purchase virtual goods from an online store to boost their sales and popularity in the market. The victim was assured of getting a 50% commission on the purchase and was asked to boost sales by circulating the same promotional concept to family and friends.
Initially, the commission amount is paid on request in a timely manner. But when the money accumulates in thousands, the fraudsters lock down the withdrawing ability from the account and almost freeze it.
In most cases, the victims were asked to purchase medicines and were asked to recharge their accounts to make the purchase. Meaning, they are asked to transfer money into the company wallet and then make the purchase. And when a large amount is transferred, the hackers steal it and freeze the account from further activity.
For the law enforcement, such incidents are tough to probe as everything is taking place legitimately to a certain extent. And criminals can only be framed when they steal money from victims without their knowledge or indulge in some crypto scams.
The only way to surpass this cyber threat is to stay vigilant in what you are doing and indulging online. And stay away from any kind of promotional activities that promise promotional offers and urge transferring money to their wallets.
Shop only on trusted websites and use payment gateways that have HTTPS in the browsing bar.
