How to protect yourself from malicious texts plotting to dupe you?
Even though governments are creating awareness and the digital payment systems have created multi-layered secured infrastructure, hackers are able to use innovative ways to lure people in their malevolent acts to infringe on their private information.
Beware! Fraudsters have found new ways to rob our money. The frivolous calls asking for ATM card details or Aadhaar linking seem to have become older tactics. Now they have retorted to spam texts to deceive people by making them click malicious links.
With the Digital revolution in India, banking services have so easily been shifted to the online mode. People are at ease, more than ever, of using these services. According to the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI recorded over 628 crore transactions in July 2022. Hackers are using this ecosystem to make easy money.
Although governments are creating awareness and the digital payment systems have created multi-layered secured infrastructure, hackers are able to use innovative ways to lure people in their malevolent acts to infringe on their private information.
To battle such spam texts here, The Wall Street Journal has chalked down a few ways. Following these, users can stay protected from phishing messages.
Take time before acting
These spam Robo-texts try to generate a sense of urgency by telling them that their card will get blocked, or the offer will expire soon. This forces users to make unmindful decisions and lose their money. Take a pause and think before acting on any text—whether it’s replying or tap a link.
Avoid clicking suspicious links
Never click on the link given in suspicious messages. If there is a link, file, or phone number in the text, it’s better to ignore it if you are not sure about the authenticity of the sender. Don’t download any file from the link of any messages as it may contain malware.
People easily fall into this trap because nowadays banks and other services also have a similar means of communication for email verification or OTP authentication. Thus, the users should be fully sure of the sender credentials before acting on the messages.
Do not reply back
Replying to any such messages may lead you more prone to such spam attacks. Some hackers don’t include a link into the text messages. Instead, they seek for a reply from the users to know if the number is active or not.
Block and report spam
If you receive such messages, the best practice is to block and report such messages to the concerned authorities.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India advises the users to register for Do not disturb or National Customer Preference Register services (NCPR/DND). “In case any subscriber receives unsolicited commercial communication after expiry of seven days from the date of his registration in, he/she may make a complaint to the service provider through voice call or SMS to toll-free short code 1909 or through DND App within 3 days of receipt of such UCC”, TRAI says.
Alternatively, the messages can be blocked and reported by following these steps.
On iPhone: Tap the Report Junk link under the message sent by an unknown user. Block the texter by tapping the number at the top of the thread. Then tap Info and Block This Caller.
On Android: The messages can also be reported to Google. For this: open the conversation, then tap the menu, Details, tap Block & report spam.
Divert spam messages
By pursuing these steps, the users can divert the spam messages separate from authenticated ones.
On iPhone: Go to the Settings app. In this, tap the Messages tab and enable Filter Unknown Senders. In case it is already turned on, the user can see Unknown & Spam.
On Android: Here, the spam protection is usually turned on automatically. We can check by going to the Messages app and then tapping the three dots. Then click on Settings and go to Spam protection.
However, care should be taken because sometimes genuine messages may end up in the spam category, too.
Use specialised apps
The phone inbuilt capacity may sometimes not be enough, then paid filtering apps can be used to specifically sort out suspicious messages. WSJ suggests two alternatives, RoboKiller and Nomorobo.
Learn from mistake
In case, by any chance, you happen to fall for the tactics and give away your personal information to a scammer, follow the government’s instructions to reverse the transaction and prevent identity theft.
Be cautious next time to not be fooled, also make others aware of the methods used by hackers to dupe.
