[German]Brief information for WhatsApp users among our readership (or to pass on to these users). The Lower Saxony Criminal Police Office (LKA) is warning of a new scam targeting WhatsApp users in Dec. 2024 and asking them to check their chat.
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Unusual WhatsApp calls
According to this German announcement, the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) of Lower Saxony has received information about unusual calls with automatically played voice announcements in recent days and weeks. The caller numbers are different mobile phone numbers. If the call is answered, a voice file is played automatically:
"Hello, I need to talk to you about a job. Please add me on WhatsApp."
Then the connection is immediately disconnected. The message is not repeated. Nor is the call put through to a real person. The voice sounds like a computer-generated announcement. The origin and ultimate intention behind the scam are still unknown.
The LKA suspects that this is the first point of contact for dubious job offers. This can lead to you being recruited as a so-called financial agent or goods agent and later being misused as a money launderer. In the past, there have already been calls or simple messages via WhatsApp trying to persuade you to accept a job offer.
There is also a risk that the perpetrators will ask for personal and sensitive data in advance in order to accept the job offer. This could include taking a photo of your ID card or diligently filling out application documents. Personal photos or account details could also be requested.
There are understandable reasons for submitting this data. After all, you want to receive your salary correctly. However, such data records are later often misused for other fraudulent purposes because they are up-to-date and correct.
Tips from the LKA
The LKA has compiled the following tips in connection with these contact attempts.
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- If you have received and accepted such a call, do not follow the request to contact the person via WhatsApp or an alternative messenger.
- Block the number/report it as spam. Current smartphones usually offer this option.
Never send sensitive data to unknown persons (ID photos, account details, etc.). - Do not make your personal account or postal address available for money transfers and forwarding or parcel acceptance and forwarding (risk of money laundering!)
- Do not open a bank account after being asked to do so by the perpetrators (e.g. for alleged product tests by banks or to verify your personal details for a job offer) using the video ID procedure.
If anyone has fallen for the scam, the LKA recommends contacting your own bank and reporting it to the local police station. (via)
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