Scammers are sending Discord messages with phony accusations to trick users into clicking on phishing links, according to Shan Abdul at MakeUseOf. The messages are sent from compromised accounts to the accounts’ friends lists, so they appear to be coming from a trusted friend. The messages tell the user that their account has been posting shady things, and asks them to click on a link for proof.
The messages state, “Heyy ummm idk what happened or if its really you but it was your name and the same avatar and you sent a girl erm ** stuff like what the **** ? <URL> check #exposed and youll see. anyways until you explain what happened im blocking you. sorry if this is a misunderstanding but i do not wanna take risks with having creeps on my friendslist.”
Abdul offers the following recommendations to verify that these types of messages are scams:
- “Check with a mutual friend with the same contact from whom you received the message to see if they also received it. If so, it's a scam since scammers generally send phishing messages to everyone on a compromised account's friend list.
- “Get in touch with the person who sent you this message (through another medium) and ask that person if they personally sent it. If they deny it, ask them to recover their account, as scammers have gotten hold of it.”
Abdul also gives the following advice to help users avoid falling for scams in general:
- “Do not click on a link you received from a friend without confirming it with them first.
- “Don't scan any QR code, even if it comes from a person you trust.
- “When you receive this scam text, don't communicate with your friend via Discord DM, as you could be communicating with scammers.
- “Don't share the message; this way, you avoid others falling victim to the scam because of you.”
New-school security awareness training can give your employees a healthy sense of suspicion so they can avoid falling for social engineering attacks.
MakeUseOf has the story.
