“Red flags: Viber explains how to recognize cyber fraudsters and avoid them
25 April 14:28
More than 60% of Ukrainians faced cyberattacks and phone scams in 2024, and for 40% of Ukrainians it is important to better understand personal security issues online. This was reported by Dev, citing a survey by Rakuten Viber, according to
The company’s experts have identified 6 most common signs that contain messages from cyber fraudsters, and also suggested several ways to help protect yourself from intruders in the messenger.
Six red flags from Rakuten Viber
Grammatical errors. Scammers make mistakes all the time. Pay attention to the punctuation, logic, language, length, and logical presentation of the text. If the message contains a lot of mistakes, the recipient immediately proceeds to the request, without logical explanations and clear motives – it’s time to sound the alarm.
Urgency that creates pressure. Often, a fraudster’s message is not preceded by any dialog. This “surprise effect” is created to create pressure and turn off critical perception. Fraudsters do not give time to assess risks – you must immediately comply with the request in order “not to lose a good offer”, “not to lose access to the account/account” and “to avoid problems”.
A message from a friend. A request for help from a loved one inspires trust. You should keep your emotions in check, discuss the situation in more detail, and develop the conversation. If the recipient continues to exert pressure in response to additional questions and clarifications, this is a reason to think about it. It is always better to call and clarify everything directly.
Requests from supposedly official companies. “Hello, you are concerned about Bank X” – these are the words that start such requests and they work the same way as messages coming from accounts of people you know. Account problems, large debits, and blocking are the reasons that help fraudsters extort personal data or funds. No company representative will ever ask for your PIN. For additional verification, you can always contact the company’s hotline about the request.
Easy money and draws. Guaranteed earnings, prizes for the hundredth customer, a bonus for subscribing or voting in a contest – all of these can be deceptive tricks of attackers. Search for more information on the Internet: whether such a job/company/project exists, whether the said contest was held, etc.
Links and attachments. If you see a questionable link, an unfamiliar domain or file extension, especially when it is a message from an unfamiliar contact, do not open the document or go to the page. If you have already visited the site, never leave personal data to register a profile, share your phone number or any other contacts.
How to protect yourself from online scams
The Viber team reminds you that the main weapon against scammers is blocking.
To do this:
– select the desired chat;
– click the information icon (Android) or chat name (iOS) at the top of the screen;
– then “Chat info”;
– and “Block this contact”.
You can also set up automatic transfer of all messages from unfamiliar contacts to a separate folder:
To do this
– click “Advanced”
– then “Settings”;
– then “Privacy”;
– and finally “Message requests”.
“Each message in this folder will be blurred and the user can immediately select the ‘Block and complain’ option. This is useful when you don’t have time to deal with every message that may be fraudulent,” Rakuten Viber said.
The company also reported that in 2023-2024, Rakuten Viber has already blocked about 40 thousand fraudsters and spammers due to user complaints and constant monitoring.
Earlier, Rakuten Viber warned users about a fraudulent scheme that was actively spreading on the network. Attackers posed as representatives of well-known companies or services to gain access to accounts.
According to the company, the fraudsters sent messages or made phone calls, posing as employees of banks, mobile operators, or classifieds services. After that, they asked to enter a code from an SMS, which was allegedly needed to confirm registration, change the tariff, or other actions.
At this stage, the attackers tried to activate the Viber account on another device using the received code. If the user passes the code to third parties, the fraudsters get full access to their account.
Experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security also drew attention to the use of such a scheme.
In order to protect your account and avoid losing access to Viber and personal data, experts advised to follow simple security rules
– do not share activation codes even with people you know,
– block suspicious messages and users,
– limit contacts from unknown persons in Viber settings,
– check privacy settings and activate two-step verification.
