₦airaland Forum

I expected SLS to have resigned long time a go. But alas! He didn't see the handwriting on the wall. But all the same, Ganduje has unknowingly created an avenue to make Sanusi more popular than he has ever been. The bad side of it is that this action might turn around to consume Ganduje.

Sanusi should see this as an opportunity to enjoy freedom. He should just move to the south where his enormous experience and intelligence would be appreciated and his freedom relatively guaranteed.

You really want to know what to do? I'll tell you.

Science has proved that sex is mostly enjoyed early in the morning. So first thing every morning, go to her house, the husband should still be asleep, have a mind blowing sex romp with her, probably at the dining room while the husband is sleeping in the bedroom. Do that everyday for the next three years.

Don't forget to come here and share with us the testimony because some of us will like to know the styles you would do so that we will learn as well.

I wish you success. Goodluck!

Advance-fee fraud is one of the oldest successful scams the world has witnessed. As old as it is, it is still very much alive and will still continue to flourish as long as the system permits.

Advance fee fraud is a type of fraud whereby the victim is made to pay certain fees in order to redeem a prize or a  much higher amount of money or other valuables or even a favour. This is perhaps the only type of fraud that is expressly fueled by greed.

History of Advance-fee Fraud.

Advance fee fraud and it's variations has been around for over a century. In the beginning, it was a “Spanish prisoner letter” scam. Spanish prisoner letter was a scam whereby scammers contacted businessmen through letter alleging that someone connected to a wealthy family in Spain was in prison, and in exchange for a small fee to help smuggle them out, the wealth would be shared. When the fee is paid, the victim realizes that there was neither a prisoner no any wealth to be shared.

During the 1980’s, variations of these letters started coming from Nigeria. They began as letters mailed to potential victims and evolved into e-mail scams, as it drastically cut the cost of sending. It became popular as 419 (419 is https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/02/27/part-6-chapter-38-section-419-the-most-famouse-article-of-the-nigerian-law-code/

Over the years, it has evolved into different formats and variations. With the introduction of internet, there are now many ways of reaching prospective victims.

Modus Operandi

For Advance-fee fraud to succeed, the following actions and considerations must be present:

Contacting the victim. This is done through emails, SMS, Phone call, social media among others.


Bait. The bait could be in the form of promise of a very good deal whereby you're just required to make little upfront payment and you redeem a huge reward.

Anonymous. Anonymous here means that the scammer must be untraceable. He covers his track so well that it is difficult to trace or track him. That is why they don't use bank transfer, instead they use wire transfer such as Western Union or money gram and more recently, bitcoin


Variations of Advance-fee Fraud

Advance-fee fraud could be categorized according to their pattern of operation. Their list cannot be exhausted because Scammers get creative and innovative . The only objective is to make victims to pay money.

1.Employment scams.

This is one of  the most common advance-fee frauds. Scammers create fake job openings or promise job applicants of non existing jobs if only they make payment of certain amount of money. This scam comes in different scales and forms. Few months a go, a newly elected government in Nigeria advertised a non existent job and applicants were asked to pay  one thousand Nigerian Naira each. This type of scam has happened severally in the past.

Individuals also claim that they have connections with certain employers, especially in government agencies. They collect money from desperate job seekers with the promise of giving them jobs. After the payment, stories upon stories...

Some scammers specialise in collecting registration fee and other fees like training fees among others.

2.Lottery scscam

A scammer contacts you and tells you that you've won a lottery or grant from an international organization or government agency. To redeem the prize, you will have to pay small fees for clearance or insurance or logistics or anything they can come up with.

3. Beneficiary fund scam

The story is usually of a person needing help to pull out money from another country; if not done fast, the money will be forfeited to government.

4. Romance scam.

Usually an American soldier on a peace keeping mission in middle east. He opens a joint account where he pays huge money through account flashing https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/07/fake-bank-alert-account-flashing-are-you-safe/, but needs small money to sort out urgent need.

PREVENTION

People hardly help strangers. Any offer that is too good to be true is most definitely a scam. Do not easily trust strangers; never pay money to get money unless for a scheme you're very sure of. Due diligence is key.

https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/03/03/introduction-to-advance-fee-fraud/

Scam and fraud have been christened "419". Have you wondered why? The section of the Nigerian criminal code below has the answer.

Chapter 38[center][/center]
Obtaining Property by false pretences; Cheating


418. Any representation made by words, writing, or conduct, of a matter of fact, either past or present, which representation is false in fact, and which the person making it knows to be false or does not believe to be true, is a false pretence.

419. Any person who by any false pretence, and with intent to defraud, obtains from any other person anything capable of being stolen, or induces any other person to deliver to any person anything capable of being stolen, is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for three years.

If the thing is of the value of one thousand naira or upwards, he is liable to imprisonment for seven years.

It is immaterial that the thing is obtained or its delivery is induced through the medium of a contract induced by the false pretence.

The offender cannot be arrested without warrant unless found committing the offence.

419A. (1) Any person who by any false pretence or by means of any other fraud obtains credit for himself or any other person-

(a) in incurring any debt or liability; or

(b) by means of an entry in a debtor and creditor account between the person giving and the person receiving credit,

is guilty of a felony and is liable to imprisonment for three years.

(2) The offender cannot be arrested without warrant unless found committing the offence.

419B. Where in any proceedings for an -offence under section 419 or 419A it is proved that the accused-

(a) obtained or induced the delivery of anything capable of being stolen; or

(b) obtained credit for himself or any other person, by means of a cheque that, when presented for payment within a reasonable time, was dishonoured on the ground that no funds or insufficient funds were standing to the credit of the drawer of the cheque in the bank on which the cheque was drawn, the thing or its delivery shall be deemed to have been obtained or induced, or the credit shall he deemed to have been obtained, by a false pretence unless the court is satisfied by evidence that when the accused issued the cheque he had reasonable grounds for believing, and did in fact believe, that it would be honoured if presented for payment within a reasonable time after its issue by him.



https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/02/27/part-6-chapter-38-section-419-the-most-famouse-article-of-the-nigerian-law-code/

Sierramorgan:
Wow, thanks for this great and helpful thread! I'm extremely blessed by this! I never knew it's all about a card having the 3D security when a one-time password is required to make an online payment not until I read this thread. As a matter of fact, I've saved and bookmarked it to be revisited later. Probably, I know people who made payments online to one or more sites where they weren't required to pass the one-time password verification process. So, it implies their cards didn't have the 3D security, right? I never knew about this. Thanks for the heads up! Bookmarked!

Where the OTP is not required, either the card has 2D...or the card has already been verified on the platform thus skipping it in subsequent transactions.

Thanks for making out time to read.

You may also want to know what could happen to you if your card is stolen:
https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/02/10/when-your-atm-card-is-lost-should-you-be-worried-here-are-four-things-that-could-happen/

Making payments for goods or services has never been easier than now. With just some ciicks on your phone or laptop, you're good to go. But have you wondered the processes  involved whenever you slot your card in a POS or dial your card number on a website? A knowledge of this can go a long way in keeping you safe from scammers.

There are basically four parties involved before a payment is completed. The parties are:

1. The merchant

2. Payment gateway

3. Payment network

4. Customer  bank.

Let's discuss the above and see their relationships, risks and safety methods.

The Merchant

The merchant here represent anybody or organization you wish to make payment to for services rendered or goods bought. E-commerce websites like Jumia and Konga, restaurants, boutiques, and every other store that uses POS, are all merchants as used here. When you slot your card into the POS or enter your card number during checkouts in online stores, your information (data) is copied to the payment gateway.

Payment gateway

There are numerous payment gateways; merchants sign up for the ones that are convenient and affordable for them. The basic role of payment gateway is to authorize transactions between the merchant and their customers.

The gateway copies the merchant ID and that of the customer which is primarily the 16 digits card number, expiry date, Security and other things depending on the security system of the card. The gateway equally gets to know which type of security system that is activated in the card.

There are 2D and 3D security systems. 2D security only checks for the information on the card. Once your card number, CCV and card expiry date tally, the gateway gives the transaction a pass.

Note: Information about the type of security is not kept by the payment gateway, but it is the one to execute it.

3D security involves other security checks that are not written on the card, such as pin and OTP(One Time Password).  Whenever you're asked for PIN or OTP before completing transactions with your card, know that your card has 3D security.

A 2D security card is easier to be used by criminals when stollen because all the information needed to use it is written on it. This is why it is very important that you guide your card carefully.

3D secured card is safer but more difficult to use, even by the owner. You know the feeling when you're in a haste but you have to wait for OTP and all that.

Payment network

This is a kind of association of all active card services providers across the world. This include VISA, Verve etc. They determine the kind of security they use for their card. They share information about the subscribers with payment gateways. When payment gateways are through with authentication, they send information to the payment network who now validates and send payment request to bank.

Customer Bank

Your bank at this point receives payment request from payment network. The information your bank needs is your card number and the expiry date. It will verify the amount to ckeck whether it is within the daily limit and your account capacity. It will then approve or decline the request and send information in reverse order till it gets to the merchant. All these take place in few seconds.

Note: If you have used your card successfully on a particular platform, chances are that you may not be asked for OTP in subsequent transactions even if your card is 3D secured. In some countries too, light payments i.e. transactions involving small amount, do not require extra security such as PIN  and OTP.



https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/02/15/what-happens-when-you-make-payment-with-your-card/

Is this mixture safe?


https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/02/12/if-this-particular-medicine-cures-all-these-ailments-why-do-people-still-die/

Formjacking is a relatively new form of scam that has come to stay. E-commerce websites are mostly the target. Formjacking is when cybercriminals inject malicious JavaScript code in a website to steal information users supply during checkouts.

There’s an increase in the number of online shoppers given the ease of doing so. Websites used for banking and e-commerce are built in such a way that personal information of users are secure. However, what scammers do now is to attack such websites and inject a program that copies personal information such as credit card number, contacts and address for fraudulent reasons.

Website operators should conduct regular security checks on their programs to detect malicious attacks in time before they cause damages to their customers.

How to be safe

Ordinarily, website visitors can do relatively nothing to prevent formjacking. It is the duty of website owners to protect customers. Sadly, cyber criminals often attack smaller operators who do not have robust security system to checkmate their activities. However, you can take the following measures:

1. Have a dedicated card for online transaction and fund the corresponding account only when you need to make purchases. This way, even if your information is stolen, you’ll have little to loose.

2. Activate both SMS and email alert/notification for your account. This is necessary because it will help you to monitor your account even if one Chanel of notification is down.

3. Knowing different ways of deactivating your card offhand, such as via your bank mobile app, USSD, your bank customer care line and social media etc, is vital. This will become handy in case you start receiving unauthorized debit alert.

4. Avoid suspicious e-commerce websites and bank websites. Be sure to recheck the URL before you checkout.

5. Before you shop on any new e-commerce site, read reviews online from people that have done so before.



Never forget to use your head always. There might be no clues to detect formjacked websites.

Happy shopping!

https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/02/08/formjacking-are-you-at-risk/

chatinent:
¤ Cool down bro. We know already.

good you already know

Liking and sharing the page is the target

See more pictures and read more scam burst articles in
https://burstscam.com

Getting you to click the link is the target

The aim is to get your WhatsApp contact

More

Any deceptive Facebook post that serves as bait, meant to deceive you or scam you, either by creating fake account using another person’s picture, or making you to like, share or comment on pages by posting pictures of vulnerable people, is fraudulent. Bellow are screenshots of some of such posts:


See all here
https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/02/07/sample-fraudulent-facebook-posts-you-should-beware-of-pictures/

Fake account:

Scammers seize every opportunity to extort money from unsuspecting victims. Using victims' nude pictures to blackmail them happens to be one of them. In this our digital world, many people exchange nude pictures and videos in their thousands daily in expression of their love or whatever. When such pictures and videos get into wrong hands, blackmail might be inevitable.

Today, we shall be looking at various ways through which scammers obtain peoples' nude pictures, purpose of using nude pictures for blackmail, how you can avoid being a victim and what you can do if you have already fallen a victim. But before we proceed, let's look at the meaning of blackmail.

Blackmail defined

Blackmail, in it's simple form, is the act of demanding for money from someone in order not to reveal damaging information about him. For blackmail to exist, the blackmailer must be in possession of sensitive and damaging information about the victim. In this context, nude picture is the information.

It should be noted that blackmail is a serious criminal offense just like every scam related crime. Haven said that, let's look at the various means through which scammers obtain peoples' nude pictures.

How scammers obtain nude pictures of victims.

#1. Hacked/unauthorized access to private media files.

When unauthorized persons have access to your private files like gallery, social network apps, memory card and hard drive, they might stumble upon saved nude pictures of you.

#2. CCTV

There are security cameras at various places, including private places such as hotel rooms, bathrooms and toilets (unfortunate). While such cameras are for security reasons, unscrupulous elements might gain access to it's content either through hacking, buying content from corrupt officials or the officials themselves being the bad eggs.

Scammers can also install discrete cameras in hotel rooms without the knowledge of the management for the purpose of obtaining nude pictures of victims.

#3. Disguised as friends on social media

Scammers normally use pictures of celebrities to create fake social media accounts to lure people into their trap. As a guy, you are easily moved by the pictures of very beautiful lady. "She" might trick you into exchanging unclad pictures. Little do you realize that the beautiful Mexican woman you're chatting with is actually a boy few poles from your house in Ogbomosho.

Girls normally trip for cute guys with six packs, long well shaved bears and pretty smiles. By the time they realize that that fine boy who posses with G-Wagon and speaks like the prince of England is actually a year one student of AAU whose only skill is Photoshop, it would have been too late.

#4. Gleaned/recovered from old phone.

Whether you gave out your old phone for free, or you sold it, even if you flashed it, scammers can still obtain those pictures you stored therein.

Purpose of collecting peoples' nude pictures.

The sole purpose of collecting other peoples' nude by scammers is to blackmail them. Blackmail comes in various forms. Extorting money is the chief of them, although sometimes they might be interested in other things such as information you posses etc.

How to prevent scammers from obtaining your nude pictures.

~ Do not store nude pictures anywhere.

~ never send unclad pictures to anybody, including your close acquaintances, not to talk of friends you met online, no matter how sweet their mouth may be.

~ before you UnCloth in a hotel room or sleep with anyone aside from your spouse, turn off the light in the room, put on your phone's camera and scan the room diligently. If there's any hidden camera, you'll see a tiny ray of red light. In that case you might consider change of apartment.

~ do not do funny things in public utilities.

~ use curtain for your home.

~ encrypt your phones and your storage devices before wiping off their content

~ always use strong password for your gadgets.

What if your nude is already in wrong hands

Your blackmailer knows that you dread ever seeing your nude in public places, so you are willing to pay any price to have your dignity protected. But I tell you, if you succumb to his demand and pay, you'll continue to pay until there's nothing left. So do the following:

1. Try to find out the identity of your blackmailer. It might be impossible, but where it is possible, you have already won the battle.

2. Report the matter to the authorities if you have the feelings that someone wants to use your nude against you. If you know his identity, it's a won battle. But even if you don't know his identity, still report to appropriate authority.

3. Alert the world that someone (by what you know about him) is trying to post your nude online.

Note: blocking him on your SM page is not the ideal. Raising alarm about his threats and tagging your mutual friends and anyone you know that has affiliation with him, might actually save him.

4. Alert your families and friends.

5. In case he makes real his treat and he evades justice, raise your heads up and move on.


https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/28/nude-pictures-for-blackmail-what-you-can-do/

Equip yourself to burst scam at https://burstscam.com

The NIN (National Identification Number) is the most important feature of the Nigerian national ID card. It is, in fact, the only really important thing about your ID card. Every Nigerian ought to have a unique NIN.

Every bank account holder in Nigeria actually has a NIN irrespective of whether or not such person has enrolled for the national ID card. How?

The federal government of Nigeria made BVN (Bank Verification Number) compulsory for every Nigerian bank account holder. During the registration, applicants were required to include, among other things, phone number (registered during the KYC [Know Your Customer] exercise), thumbprints, and personal information.

All the data collected during the exercise were thereafter harmonized and synchronized into national database. Consequently, every individual was assigned a NIN. By this, every individual can easily access his NIN information via his phone.

How to check your NIN with your phone even without enrollment.

#1. Dial *346# from the phone number you used to register for your BVN.

#2. Two options will pop up that ask you to enter 1 to retrieve your NIN number or 2 to cancel. Simply enter 1 and press “send”

#3. Your NIN number will be clearly displayed on your phone. Write it out and save it somewhere. Screenshot it if possible.

What scammers can do with it

— when a scammer has access to your phone, he can retrieve your NIN and clone your ID card with it. He can easily crop a passport from your pictures online or even use his own pictures or those of random people depending on his motives. He can equally get other information about you online like your name etc.

— most people that have already enrolled are yet to get permanent ID card, they still use the temporary slip which is equally acceptable provided it contains the NIN. This makes the cloning much easy.

— where a scammer decides to produce permanent ID card, he will still use it fully because ID cards are normally submitted in photocopies, so no one will find out if it’s fake.

— the scammer might use your ID card in perpetuating many crimes that may be traced to.

Identity theft is a serious issue. Protect your Identity by locking your phones and SIM cards.


https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/24/how-a-scammer-can-reproduce-your-authentic-national-id-card-in-less-than-30seconds-of-access-to-your-phone/

kernniejay:
FTC !!!
Very very useful tips especially these days that scammers create fake Facebook page and begin to impersonate you or use it for malicious purposes.
Mod should kindly move to FP.

Read more here:

https://burstscam.com/blog/

In one of our previous articles, we discussed how important it is to be cautious while using Facebook due to the high degree of scam going on therein. We equally gave some suggestions and how to be safe. Today we will be highlighting an interesting activity that will make everyone safe on Facebook.

Utilizing Facebook face recognition

Last year, Facebook introduced face recognition feature. The feature serves many purposes such as tag suggestions. But the most important use of the feature is for security. If a person uploads your picture or uses it on his profile or wall, Facebook will give you notification. The essence is to help you find out when somebody wants to impersonate you or create a fake Facebook account using your picture.

To achieve the above, Facebook collects what it calls “template” for any picture you upload. Special identity is assigned to your photos and are analysed such that whenever a picture of you, whether single or in group, is uploaded, Facebook will recognize and alert you.

How is this a security measure? If you receive notification about a picture you never uploaded and you find out that someone is impersonating you, you can quickly report the account of the impostor. However, you must enable Facebook face recognition feature before you can use it.

How to enable Facebook face recognition

Go to Facebook setting, click on privacy and then face recognition. You will be ask to “please review the face recognition setting” click “continue”. On the following window select ” turn on”.

While this action might mean nothing to you because you may never be a victim to Facebook scammers, it might go a long way to protect others, including your loved ones. If every Facebook user utilizes this feature to the full, the risk of using Facebook will drastically reduce.

Help make Facebook safe!

https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/22/one-important-way-of-making-facebook-safe-for-all/

Being arrested just for using a phone number that was recycled, receiving strange phone calls from people who mistake you for another person, receiving strange sms, alerts and WhatsApp messages from people who you know nothing about are no more strange to mobile phone users.

I've been called a barrister, a generator technician, spoken to in a language I don't understand, all because I bought SIM cards. Our phone numbers now carry more value than ever before. Let us highlight some of the reasons why phone numbers are now very much more important than bank accounts. It's my hope that after reading this article, you'll see reasons why you should be more cautious with your phone digits.

Why your phone number is more important than your account number

#1. Your phone number enables a lot of access to your bank account.

You can perform the following banking operations with just phone number/SIM card:

* check account balance

* extract your account information

* buy recharge card

* transfer fund

* perform e-commerce operations

* verify/bypass two factor security

* activate bank mobile app

* block/freeze account

* reset passwords linked to your account, among others.

Now imagine your SIM card in the hands of a scammer? I don't mean to send shiver down your spine, but it can really get messy. With your SIM card, a scammer can mess up your life.

#2. With your phone number, you cannot hide from whoever that wants to pry on you.

You use WhatsApp, right? You may never have signed up for Truecaller, but at least one person from among all those people that have your contact is signed onto Truecaller so your name (or whatever they save your contact with) and contact most likely exist in their database. You signed up for Facebook and/or LinkedIn with your number, right?

Above all, you did BVN with your number. Even if you don't have national ID card, you already have NIMC number by the mere fact that you have done BVN and you can get it with your phone number. My point? Your phone number carries a lot of information about you. Your phone number can reveal your identity, your residence, your occupation, your habitat, age etc. All depends on the social engineering skills of whoever is interested in prying you.

#3. Security.

Your security online might depend largely on your phone number. If you're an android user, all your accounts and passwords are synchronized to your Google ID which is your email. Your email is tied/linked to your phone number.

Whenever you want to recover any lost or forgotten account/password, your phone number suffices. What this means is that, with your SIM card, all your passwords could be changed easily. Where a hacker has your phone number but without your SIM card, his psyching ability (social engineering skill) will determine whether or not he will succeed. Phone number is such a powerful tool!

#4. With your SIM, you can be impersonated.

Imagine a scammer in possession of your SIM card, what he would be capable of doing with it? Will he install WhatsApp and defraud your friends and relatives with your identity? Will he demand for favor from them via SMS? Will he possibly call and tell one lie about you, probably that you're sick, in order to extort money from them? He might actually do one or more of the above.

With increase in digitalization, phone numbers are becoming more and more important; they carry more value than ever before. How can you protect your SIM card?

Safe use of SIM card

~create SIM lock if you have not done so.

~limit personal information you share online.

~sign up to Truecaller and define how you wish to be identified online by yourself.

~having two SIM cards is great. If possible separate your banking line from your main line.

~having more lines is a bad idea. You cannot possibly maintain many lines for long.

~in event of loss, be sure to retrieve ALL your lines.


Cc: Lalasticlacla

https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/20/four-4-very-strong-reasons-why-your-phone-number-and-sim-card-are-more-important-than-your-bank-account/

Scammers exist everywhere. Street scam has existed long before internet scam and it's not stopping any time soon. When you fall victim to street scammers, you might end up being really stranded.

There are various methods used by scammers to defraud victims. We cannot exhaust all of them in one article that's why this series is necessary.

The essence of this series is to make you "street wise" so as to be able to resist any attempt by unscrupulous elements to scam you while going about your business.

The passenger format

Sam is a Keke (popular name for tricycle in Nigeria) rider. It was a cool evening around 8 pm. While picking and dropping passengers along wethral road, Owerri, a passenger boarded his Keke and told him he wanted a "drop" (charter), so after dropping off the last passenger, he will take him to his destination.

The passenger said that he was going to Young Shall Grow motors to collect delivery, then go back to his office where he works as a manager in a popular hotel in New Owerri. After negotiating price, the journey started.

Shortly after coming out from the transport terminal, the passenger showed the driver the said parcel he received, it was an international passport that, according to him, was ware billed to him from his Lagos based brother... and the story continued.

The passenger asked if the driver had a car charger, he said no. Passenger now said that phone is down and so would not be able to transfer his transport fare... change of plan. They will now have to go home first where he will collect his ATM card, when they get to his office he will transfer either with ATM or POS; He will add extra 1k for the extra journey. Driver was cool with the arrangement since he will still be paid for everything. After all, that's what he came out to do.

At this point, based on series of stories (psyching) the passenger has told the driver, the driver was already comfortable with him, so it wasn't difficult for him to get his way.

The location of the passenger's "residence " is Amakohia. While inside a street in Amakohia, the passenger asked the driver to give him 3k to buy drugs for his baby since he was going home, that he will make all the transfer at once. Driver said he had 2k, passenger accepted, stopped in front of a pharmacy, went in and came out shortly thereafter, entered the Keke and pointed the driver to the direction of "his apartment".

On getting to the said apartment, the driver stopped and waited for passenger to drop drugs and pick his ATM card so that they continue the journey. Well, my people, the Keke man may still be waiting for the passenger till today and beyond. LOL!

On a check, the driver discovered that the building has many apartments and another exit. After waiting endlessly, it dawned on him that he has been scammed. He count his losses and moved on.

Solution

What do you think should have been done by the Keke man to avoid this scam?

Tell us in the comment section.

https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/19/street-scam-part-1/

Read more on https://burstscam.com/blog/

Kate (not real name) had a lodge mate at school that she was acquainted to. Her name is Nancy. For a long time they exchanged ideas on the way forward amidst uncertain economic prospect that await them after their school program. After their programs they parted ways but remained occasionally in touch via Facebook.

On this fateful day, Nancy's Facebook page was hacked by a brilliant scammer and changed all the credentials that could make it possible for her to recover the account.

One cool evening around 10 pm, Kate received a message from Nancy's messenger after a relatively long time of no chat. Nancy introduced a captivating business idea to Kate. It was a get rich quick scheme whereby Kate was required to pay any amount of money and then get it doubled in 30 minutes.

Kate became reluctant but was assured by Nancy who reminded her their mutual dream and then showed her screenshots of how much she has made from the scheme. At this point the offer was irresistible; Kate was willing to commit.

After receiving the contact of the group leader and the account details, Kate made a transfer using her mobile App. Shortly afterwards, she was notified of the receipt of her payment and assured of receiving double in 30 minutes even as she was urged to increase her deposit for her to cash out big.

In about 30 minutes, Kate was contacted again and then asked to click on a certain link in order to redeem her cash. On clicking the Link, she's asked to log into her Facebook again. Moments after typing her username and password, she's logged out of Facebook; her own account has been hacked too.

Now the hacker is going to use her profile to scam her gullible friends. This is the new face of Facebook scam. The scammer must see something in the inbox that he would use. Either he scams the victim's friends, or he hacks victim's friends' account, or he gets something that he will use to blackmail you in order to extort you. It can really get messy.

But where did Kate get it wrong? Where did  Nancy get it wrong? What should have been done differently?

There's little that Nancy could have done. The best bet is for her to create another account, add as many of her friends as possible, make a public post concerning her hacked account tagging all her existing friends, and then report the account while asking her friends to do so too. That's a pretty hard job to do. She could also make public post on her other social network accounts.

For Kate, she made many blunders. First is that she made a rash financial decision. Always sleep over a deal before making commitment. Second, she should not have entered her logging details in a link that was sent by a stranger. Lastly, she failed to confirm by putting a call through before making payment. As a rule: before you make any payment for any business that was initiated online, confirm through phone call.

Why do scammers succeed even with cheap formats as this?

1. Most internet users are ignorant. Update yourself by regularly reading anti scam articles such as the ones in burstscam.com.

2. Scammers mount unnecessary pressure on victims. Beware of pressure to commit.

3. Scammers capitalize on trusts and relationships of friends.

Never underestimate the importance of putting a call across before making financial commitment. If the number is not reachable, pause and wait.

https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/13/new-face-of-facebook-scam-beware/

In one of our discussions about cyber security, a school of thought that discouraged the use of antivirus on Android device emerged. They are of the opinion that Android phones cannot really be attacked and therefore the use of antivirus does more harm than good.

In truth, antivirus does a lot of harm to Android devices. Antivirus increases the workload of the phone thereby increasing power consumption and the temperature of the device. Even when the phone is not in use, antivirus is working thus doing many of the things malware does.

Considering that antivirus drains the phone's battery - the same thing virus does, and it uses a lot of phone's memory, do you think it's still proper to install it? Can your phone be hacked in the first place?

Can your phone be hacked?

To answer this question, let us first know the meaning of hacking. Hacking generally refers to unauthorized intrusion into a device or a network. A hacker can have control over, or manipulate, a system by means of computer programs or applications.

Based on the above, Android devices could be hacked. In fact, hacking Android devices has become popular and easier than ever before. How do you know that your phone has been hacked?

1. Your phone battery start draining rapidly. This is because, some programs have been introduced into your device and they run on the background.

2. Your phone's temperature becomes unusually high.

3. You start seeing unusua pop-ups.

4. Some of your applications may start misbehaving. Sometimes they will refuse to launch, sometimes they will crash.

5. You start seeing applications you never installed.

6. Your data drains unusually fast.

etc.

When you start seeing these signs, your phone might have been infected.

Should you install antivirus?

Yes and no. Yes if you cannot manually protect your phone against malware attack. No if you can.

The easiest way to get rid of your phone from virus is to restore it to factory setting. This method is expensive because each time you do it, you'll have to download new applications and update existing ones, that can be data intensive especially if you don't have reliable Wi-Fi.

Manually deleting suspected applications from your phone is a good method of safety.

How to prevent your phone from being hacked

1. Always download your applications from trusted sites like Google play store.

2. Be wary of links no matter who sent it.

3. Manually type websites in the address bar.

4. Restore your phone to factory settings from time to time.

5. Do not use untrusted WiFi connection.

6. Use VPN if you must use public WiFi

7. Be wary of charging stations. Don't plug your phone into any USB cord you see.

8. Turn of your Bluetooth when not in use.

9. Do not leave your phone unattended in public.

10. Use good password, pin or pattern to lock your phones.


https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/12/can-android-phone-be-hacked/

WhatsApp hacking entails three things:

1. A person establishing a remote access to your WhatsApp account in order to spy on you real time. This is usually done by people who want to monitor your conversations.

2. A person having access to your previous chats, either by recovering your backup chats or by exporting your chat files to where he has control.

3. An intruder having access, and taking over your WhatsApp account. This is the one we’re going to discuss today. In our subsequent posts we’ll discuss number 1&2.

Why are scammers interested in your WhatsApp account?

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps out there. This means that everyone using WhatsApp has a large number of people he interacts with. Among those people you interact with are persons of interest to a scammer.

– It could be the gullible ones that will send him card or money thinking the request is from you.

– It could be the ones that will jump on a fraudulent business proposal thinking that you are the one that recommended it.

– It could be the ones that will provide information and data about someone/something thinking it is you that demanded…

– It might be those that will click on marware infested link thinking you posted it.

– The scammer might have access to confidential information…

– The scammer might just want to use your account to spam your contacts or to run a propaganda campaign.

By and large, if your WhatsApp account is hacked, a lot of damage can be caused. Think of being the admin of a WhatsApp group and you loose control of your account to a scammer?

How WhatsApp could be hacked

The scammer either installs new WhatsApp and tries to register it with your WhatsApp number, or he tries to change from his number to your own on existing WhatsApp. Normally, you will require an OTP(One time password) sent to your number to complete the process. How do the scammers get the OTP?

1. They use social engineering. In this case they might call you and tell you one convincing story that will make you send them a code that was sent to your phone. Sometimes they can sweet talk even people that already know the danger into releasing the code to them only for you to realize what you did just moments after the deed has been done.

2. Those that have access to your phone can easily copy the OTP even if your phone is locked.

How to prevent your WhatsApp account from being hacked

1. Set two step security on your WhatsApp. Go to settings>account>security>two-step verification>add pin. Choose a six digits pin that is not easy to guess. When this is successful, even if a person gets your OTP, he will still be required to provide the pin.

2. Do not reveal any code sent to you from WhatsApp to anybody at no time.

3. In your phone’s setting, disallow display of content of notification on lock screen and do not leave your phone to unauthorized persons.

How can you recover your lost account?

Uninstall your WhatsApp and install new one. Granted, this is not 100% guaranteed.

Have any experience with WhatsApp hackers? Share with us in the comment section.

https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/09/whatsapp-hacking-all-you-need-to-know/

Cc; Lalasticlala, Mynd44

[quote author=shaggy007 post=85573132]How does flashing work? Read here:

[/quotehttps://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/07/fake-bank-alert-account-flashing-are-you-safe/

Introduction

Dating scam is one of the most popular scams. The popularity is due to it’s high success rate, probably because targets are mostly ordinary people; people with little cyber security awareness.

Scammers leverage on the popularity of social media and the ease of dating it affords users to hoodwink victims into making scam induced decisions that leaves them heartbroken…

How dating scam works

Step 1:

The scammer sets up a fake social media profile, especially Facebook. He uses a picture of a US military officer.

Step 2:

He sends a victim (usually female) friend’s request and start talking. He convinces the victim that he is an American soldier on a peacekeeping mission, maybe in middle east or elsewhere.

In less than no time, he starts confessing love to the victim and tells her how he would want to spend his life with her once he comes back from the warfront.

Step 3:

While the girl is drowning in love, he hints her on plans to move his monies to America. Consequently, he asks the victim to open a joint fixed deposit account for both of them and link her number to it.

At this point the victim eliminates almost all doubts… After opening the account, he makes you swear that you will never attempt to make any withdrawal from the account.

Step 4:

The scammer flashes the account. Account flashing means sending a false bank alert to the bearer. In some cases, if you check your account you’ll see the amount but it will disappear in 24 hours.

P.S. To avoid defeating the purpose of this post, I will not go into full details of how flashing is done at this point.

Over a period of time, the victim must have received alert of significant amount.

Step 5:

The scammer now starts billing. He claims he has an urgent need he needs to sort out financially. Considering how much she has received, the victim will not hesitate to run around to raise the money for the scammer.

Many go extra length to meet up. Some borrow, some use their savings, some sell their assets etc.

The aftermath of this scam is disappointments, heartbreak, sometimes suicide.

How to be safe from dating scam

Before you send money to anybody you have not seen before, especially when it is not for business, run a thorough check on the identity of the recipient. You can do so by searching the name on Google, Facebook etc. Drag the profile picture of the person to your desktop, copy it to Google image search and compare the information you’ll see with what you already know about the person.

Ask your account manager to verify the account of the recipient and ask how legitimate it is. In the end, due diligence matters.

Have you fallen victim of dating scam before? Share your experience in the comment section.

https://burstscam.com/blog/2020/01/06/all-about-dating-scam-part-1/