What is the WhatsApp scam in which criminals offer work?

“We have a part-time job for you, can I share the details and salary with you? » .

This is how one of the scams the latest one that goes viral in WhatsApp in which a certain number from Morocco pose as a Universal Pictures executive, in order to offer supposed jobs with generous salaries .

However, it is a fraud in order to harm users. Furthermore, the person sending the messages is not actually a member of the aforementioned company Entertainment.

Indeed, if you look carefully at the profile of said contact, We can read in its state: “Beauty, cosmetics and personal care” .

The fraudulent messages continue as follows: “We are currently recruiting people in Chile for remote work. Duties include providing movie reviews, ratings, and comments to promote movies on our universal movie platforms. The job requires visiting our movie sites, taking screenshots of the movies and sending them to us.

Then, the account impersonating the company indicates in this redundant text that “They will pay us immediately for each task performed, with salaries ranging from 5,000 to 15,000 Chilean pesos. In one day you can earn up to 150,000 or more accomplish tasks.

To top it all, They ask their potential victims to go to the official Universal website and take screenshots of the homepage, so that they can send them later. back.

The last, Supposedly, this is a “test mission” to evaluate whether or not it qualifies for what they offer.

Several users of social networks like TikTok have warned of having received similar messages from numbers impersonating this and other internationally prominent companies, such as LinkedIn .

The goal of these cybercriminals is obtain personal data and steal money .

But beyond companies, even celebrities, they pose as, What is most striking is the method they use to commit such crimes. .

In conversation with LT, the specialist in cyber security and operations manager LEVEL 4 Hernán Möller, deciphers point by point the operating mode What does this follow? the criminals .

At first glance, Asking for a screenshot may seem harmless . However, the expert specifies that This request aims to generate an initial approach with the victim, in order to gradually gain their trust. gradually.

“In reality, these are simple tasks that they ask to complete. This can be a screenshot or going to a known site (…) They do it to gain confidence, to mislead. They then move on to tasks that are a little more complex, but still very easy. “.

Möller explains that The scammers then ask users for their banking details, in order to make small monetary deposits which, in total, can reach almost $10,000. Chilean pesos.

Once this limit is reached – which can vary depending on each case – they promise to deliver larger quantities. who is deceived.

The difference is that From now on, it is the latter who must depose the infiltrated fraudsters. .

“For example, They ask you to transfer $50,000 and tell you that after making this deposit you will receive $80,000. . Then he would keep that $30,000 reward when subtracting, allowing him to emerge victorious, but that money never comes back “.

But, What should you look for to avoid falling into these situations?

The expert’s response is categorical: “In general, any call or request from someone you don’t know or who is not in your contact list should arouse suspicion” .

“My recommendation is don’t respond because you might end up falling for it and they are always trying to come up with something interesting . To the extent that you respond and please these people, somehow they manage to cajole and then deceive “, says Möller.

At the same time, he emphasizes that “You are not obliged to provide personal data, no matter how minimal it may be” .

“What these criminals are doing is starting collect information that they can use to commit other scams, not necessarily the same type we were talking about . For example, they might try to contact the bank of the person they are trying to scam and attempt to recover their Internet account or password, actions of this type.

And to this is added, according to the LEVEL4 specialist, that “There are even criminal gangs who share this information to carry out other types of attacks at a different time or in the future” .

Under this line, the expert states that “always be suspicious” when situations with these characteristics arise .