Cybercriminals may be lurking in community and work group chats on messaging platforms. Sergey Zolotukhin, a cybersecurity expert from F6, issued a warning to users, offering advice on how to avoid related dangers.
«If you are an administrator of a chat or channel, periodically check for any unnecessary, unknown participants. Add new people to the chat only by recommendation from existing members. A public invitation link for everyone is a dangerous solution: it will attract crowds of bots and fake users,» Zolotukhin advised.
He added that users should also check privacy settings in their messenger and social media profiles. This, according to him, is necessary to prevent external chat visitors from obtaining personal information. Furthermore, he advised users not to write or publish anything in chats that they would not be prepared to say publicly, as such posts could one day be used against their authors.
«Do not open files or click on links from strangers,» Zolotukhin concluded. «Even if a link or file comes from a known contact that you didn`t request, ignore it. Links can lead to phishing sites or other resources created by cybercriminals to hijack accounts. And files sent under the guise of photo or video archives could turn out to be malicious applications that allow attackers to steal money from your bank account.»
Previously, Russians were warned about a new lottery-related scam scheme. It is noted that criminals using it draw their victims into a financial pyramid scheme.
