A new day and a new scam. With the increasing reliance on social media and digital platforms, scammers are now reaching out to users on these platforms with a deal to rent their accounts.
How Does The ‘Rent-An-Account’ Scam Work?
While the rent-an-account concept is new, however, it is reportedly an actual business, where companies market by renting genuine profiles of users from various social media platforms.
According to reports, this is even a slightly “legitimate marketing business practice in some countries” with these companies claiming that using these actual profiles to post positive and appreciative messages can help brands to increase their reach and visibility.
However, scammers are apparently using this same model now to defraud people out of their social media and even bank accounts in some cases.
These cybercriminals approach social media users, asking them to rent out their profiles on Instagram, LinkedIn and more, promising them money in exchange.
Once they get access to those profiles, they can then lock out the actual owners of the profile from their own account, and use the accounts for other scams, misinformation campaigns, impersonation, and more.
So how it goes is:
- The cybercriminal will reach out to those genuine users through Facebook posts, and private messages.
- They will then take the conversation to a different platform like Telegram, where they will work out the ‘deal’ of renting the user’s profile and promise a commission for it.
- Once the user shares their login credentials, the scammers can then lock the original user out of their own account.
Read More: Save Yourself From This Latest Scam Of Digital Arrest Involving Your E-Commerce Orders, And Couriers
An India Today report also mentioned how there has been an increase in UPI accounts being used for cyber fraud where scammers use these “bank accounts to transfer fraudulent funds” and “it becomes difficult for authorities to trace the fraudsters, allowing them a layer of anonymity.”
The reason this is cause for alarm is that not only can someone be scammed out of their social media accounts but also get in legal trouble.
Since the account will still be attached to the real person, with their name, email address, and other information registered, law enforcement could take action against that person instead of the actual cybercriminal.
Cybersecurity expert Mohit Kumar commenting on this said “Scammers can leverage such accounts for illegal activities, including spreading false information or scamming others, all while using the trust people have in the account holder to their advantage.”
Kumar also pointed out how someone can spot the scam saying “No reputed company would need access to your LinkedIn account to promote its brand. They would instead seek collaborations or endorsements without requesting credentials.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: India Today, The Hindu, The Economic Times
Find the blogger: @chirali_08
This post is tagged under: Scam, Scam India, rent-an-account, rent account scam, cybercrime, cybercrime India, fraud, online fraud, online fraud india
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, or copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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