If a friend reaches out on social media, our natural reaction is to help.
But is it a friend? Or a criminal, who has compromised your friend’s account and now wants to access your social media or email account – and your valuable data?
If you agree to help, you’ll likely be sent a link to help the friend ‘recover’ their account. This will take you to a cloned social media page controlled by the criminal – so when you log in, you’re giving your login details to them.
Once they have your login, they can hack into your account using your credentials – giving them access to your personal photos and messages, contact details of your friends and family and private information.
This can be used to extort money, send malicious links to your contacts or trick your family and friends into sending them money.
Action Fraud, the National Fraud and Cyber Crime Reporting Centre, has good advice on how to keep hackers out of your email and social media accounts, how to act fast if your account is hacked and how to report: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/secureyouraccounts
Remember: always be wary of social media messages that ask for your login details or authentication codes – even if the message appears to be from someone you know.
Further information on keeping you and your home safe can be found on the Neighbourhood Watch page.