Hyderabad: The Christmas and New Year season could bring delightful moments; but the entire season could go for a toss if you unsuspectingly click unverified gift and greetings links from SMSes, WhatsApp messages and social media posts, said Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB).
The bureau urged the people not to click any unknown links as cybercriminals have planned to target people with dubious Christmas and New Year gift vouchers and gift links.
“Fraudsters have already started posting the adds and messages on WhatsApp and Instagram in the name of Christmas greetings. Once victims click these links, their phones would be infected with dangerous malware, which will collect the data of victims and take control of their digital banking,” a TGCSB official explained.
“You need to be very careful with any messages that say “You are our dear customer.”, “Merry Christmas to You.”, “Wish your loved ones a Merry Christmas with your photo and name through this link.” and “This Christmas, New Year gift is specially for you. Click on the link below and get the gift.” or similar messages.
Fraudsters have been circulating these posts on social media platforms and sending messages through SMS and WhatsApp to target innocent victims. “We have been working to trace these fraudsters by identifying the servers they were using,” he said.
Clocking on the links could download dangerous malware into the phones of victims, that can steal data and get access to digital banking, he added.
