Decoding the WhatsApp DP Scam....by Gurjot Singh Kaler

The term ‘Whatsapp’ has become synonymous with our daily lives. We all use Whatsapp- the popular social media messaging application which enables us to send end-to-end encrypted messages across the world within a fraction of a second. Innumerable messages, calls, pictures and documents get exchanged on Whatsapp every single day and we are all addicted to using it. For many people, their daily routine starts with checking their Whatsapp messages, the moment they get out of their beds in the morning and it again happens to be the last thing they check before going to bed in the night.

No doubt, Whatsapp has improved the quality, speed and charisma of human interactions. But at the same time, the world of technology is a double-edged sword. Apart from making our lives easier, Whatsapp has also become a sinister tool in the hands of cyber criminals who have devised new ways, methods and means of exploiting the gullible masses. One such latest modus operandi of cyber goons which has come to light is that they are manipulating people’s psychology through putting up false Whatsapp Display Photographs (DP’s) on fake mobile numbers. Through the illegal acts of impersonation, they are cheating innocent individuals who get duped of their hard-earned money by these clever scamsters. This has come to be known as the Whatsapp DP scam. Many politicians, senior bureaucrats, police officers, doctors, lawyers, journalists and academicians have become victims of this latest scam in the recent months.

How does it work?
So, basically, what happens is that a cyber criminal takes a new phone number which can be a real or a virtual one. In any case, these numbers are mostly acquired on fake names and addresses so that these cannot be verified or traced by police during any subsequent complaint or investigation. Then, the scamsters download Whatsapp on that phone number. Now, after careful study, research and social engineering of their target victims, they upload a fake DP of some influential person on that Whatsapp who is generally respected, probably a very senior officer or head of the department to whom the victims report as subordinates in real life and who commands authority over them. Then, they start contacting the juniors (target victims) by sending messages displaying some urgency in communication. As soon as these messages are received by the junior employees, many of them see the Whatsapp DP of their boss and wrongly assume that the messages have been sent by their senior/boss/supervisor from his secret/personal mobile number. They do not verify the real truth. As a result, they end up getting conned and losing their hard-earned wealth to these Whatsapp scamsters.

Let’s understand this through a real-time example which actually happened – One fine day, a junior police officer, of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), received a Whatsapp message on his phone from an unknown mobile number that looked quite formal in tone and substance as it addressed him by his first name and enquired about his current role or work. When the DSP checked the Whatsapp DP of the unknown mobile number from which the message had come, the DP showed that it was of the Director General of Police (DGP), the highest-ranking officer of the police department of his state. The DSP wrongly assumed that it was probably the personal number of his big boss from which he had received that particular message. He was initially even taken aback for a while as he had never thought that one day, he would be getting a Whatsapp message directly from the big boss of the police department. After gaining some composure and coming to terms with the unexpected surprise, the DSP replied back to the unknown number with formal police greeting, “Jai Hind sir. Any orders for me please?” As soon as the DSP responded, he got a swift revert from the presumed boss saying that he is right now sitting in a very important meeting and he needs an immediate favour in terms of buying some Amazon gift vouchers which he needs right-away for distributing to some colleagues and participants in the meeting. The DSP immediately complied with the instructions from the presumed boss and as asked, he straight-away bought some Amazon gift vouchers to the tune of Rs. One lakh and sent the required codes on the Whatsapp. After a few days, the DSP met one of his colleagues over a cup of tea and casually shared this story with him. To the DSP’s utter shock, he was dumbfounded to know that the same message had also come to his colleague too and then, after running some cross-checks and verifications, the truth which finally came out was that both of them had got scammed by the cyber criminals and those messages on their Whatsapp demanding Amazon gift vouchers were actually never sent by their real boss. It was a fake number with fake Whatsapp DP of their boss which the cyber criminals probably might have downloaded from the google or internet. Similar cases of Whatsapp DP scams have also been reported in various business, government and political circles.

Steps to safeguard ourselves from the Whatsapp DP scams are as follows:

• Never ever trust the Whatsapp DP when you receive a sudden message from a new, unknown mobile number. Just by seeing the display picture on Whatsapp, do not assume that the unknown mobile number actually belongs to the same person whose picture is displayed. Do not trust the eyes alone; use your brain too.

• Always verify the authenticity or veracity of any messages which you receive on Whatsapp, especially in which the person on the other side is showing extreme urgency and asking you to send him/her money immediately. The cyber criminals are very adept at brainwashing their targets and convincing them. Be aware of their tactics of shrewd behavioural engineering. Make sure to double-check the source of such suspicious messages by calling upon the unknown phone number. The cyber criminals doing Whatsapp DP scams generally do not answer the voice calls. Do not transfer money without verifying the request offline with the person asking for help.

• As part of the precautionary measures, it is advised not to reply to the messages received from unknown Whatsapp users, transfer money or purchase online gift vouchers or share banking details like Credit card/Debit Card, OTP, CW No. or any password. Do not reply to messages from unknown numbers even if the profile picture is of a person whom you know.

• Do not resort to installing any remote access app or click on any suspicious link. It is safer to secure your Whatsapp account by enabling two factor verification available in the Whatsapp settings. Never share your Whatsapp codes with anyone as it can also lead to the hijacking of your Whatsapp account.
   

• If a scammer posing as the WhatsApp account contacts you, you should block and report them by long pressing on a single message, opening the context menu, and hitting “report.” When you report an account, WhatsApp will receive the last five messages sent to you, as well as the user’s ID and details about the message, such as when it was sent, and the type of message. To block them, open the chat and simply tap “block”. They will no longer be able to send you messages.

• Finally, always report such Whatsapp scams to the police authorities. Now-a-days, the cyber crimes can also be reported online via the weblink provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs- www.cybercrime.gov.in
  A case of criminal complaint can be made and FIR under sections 419 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 66-C of the Information Technology (IT) Act can be lodged. Section 419 of the IPC states that Whoever cheats by personation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both. Section 66-C of the IT Act provides that Whoever, fraudulently or dishonestly make use of the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of any other person, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to rupees one lakh. It would also be worthwhile to suggest that to control the unprecedented rise of cases of digital impersonation, the crime of impersonation should be made a non-bailable offence to act as a strong deterrent.

Above all, the cyber criminals basically prey upon people’s lack of awareness. So, it is very important to share such basic points of knowledge and information with everyone around us. Let’s create a safe digital environment by responsibly sharing tips of cyber safety with our near and dear ones.

Gurjot Singh Kaler

Writer is Superintendent of Police (SP), Punjab

Author of book
" New India - The Reality Reloaded

kalerforall@yahoo.com

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