How Twitter Scammers Are Fooling People Into Giving Away Their Bank Credentials
As the internet continues to cast a wider net supplemented by relatively new technologies like AI, the risks associated with being online are also shooting up. A scam is now taking off on Twitter and duping people on the platform - with the potential to drain people's entire bank accounts.
To expand and maintain their public presence, all public-facing services like banks have accounts on social media platforms like Twitter that now allow users to lodge complaints directly within the platform, and to get their concerns addressed in minutes.
While such features are in place to make communication between banks and consumers easier, scammers are exploiting less tech savvy users; fooling them into giving away their bank account details.
How are scammers duping people?
It's more straightforward than you'd think. For starters, let's assume that I'm having trouble with my Citi Bank account. I don't have the time to call up their helpline so I tag them in a Tweet and summarise my concern in a sentence.
Usually, companies and banks respond to these Tweets with a button that lets users DM them to explain their concerns in-depth. Citi Bank would then walk me through the issue in my DMs or reach out to me later - depending on what becomes of the conversation. Bleeping Computer did an experiment with Axis Bank that yielded similar results.
Also read:?AI Tools That Mimic Voices Of Loved Ones Being Used To Scam People
Now, scammers are leveraging this useful feature by posing as banks in the reply section of Tweets.?
They lead users to helpline numbers or links that can register one's bank account credentials by appearing to be legit. Once you feed your details into the system - be it on a call or on a website - your bank details are effectively compromised. In turn, scammers could then drain your savings in a matter of seconds.?
The fact that now anyone can get a verified check mark on Twitter by paying for the Twitter Blue subscription isn't helping at all. Sure, Twitter's algorithms may or may not be robust enough to weed out such scam accounts automatically, but even if for a few hours, such accounts could scam numerous people who are not familiar with how Twitter operates - especially in the face of Elon Musk's abrupt and unnecessary changes to the verification programme, including a colour-coded rollout that can confuse irregular users.
Also read:?Do You Want To Be Protected From Most Bank Scams? This Twitter Thread Is All You Need To Avoid It
My suggestion??
If you need assistance from your bank and cannot go there physically, it's best to call their helpline that should be mentioned in the official documents you received while opening the account or on their official website.
Banks never ask for OTPs and passwords. In case anyone demands confidential details over a call, it's possibly a scam call and you should hang up and report that number immediately.
Do you think social media is safe for banking purposes? Let us know in the comments below.?For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.
