5/5 (1)

In several parts of the world, Whatsapp is playing an important role in the daily life of  smartphone users. Since the moment that communication between phones users have shifted away from basic texts with a maximum of tokens, it is hard to imagine a world in which you are not able to communicate with your family or friends through Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, We Chat or any other chat application.

However, as comes with almost any type of digitalisation, with Whatsapp also fraud comes into play. When focussing on the Netherlands,  the reports of Whatsapp fraud have increased significantly over the past years. During the corona pandemic, this has increased even more.  As people stay more at home, especially during the lockdown, criminals feel the necessity to look for new crime opportunities that could be done at home. 

The Dutch police estimates the loot of Whatsapp-fraud to be around one million euro per week. Every week, around 700 activities of fraud are reported. According to the Dutch police, the most common type of Whatsapp fraud is called friend-in-need fraud. The victim then receives an urgent message from a friend or family member (often a son or daughter), asking for money to be received on a short term. This happened to my own mother as well, a couple of weeks ago. She called me to verify if my sister had changed her phone number, since she was receiving messages of her via a different number than usual. 

In some cases even the entire phone number is hacked and the hackers can just send a message from the original number, including the entire message history between the child and parent. This makes it even harder for parents to detect the fraud. Online criminals are getting better and better in playing this game. 

In addition, these online criminals make use of the information we share on social media. They investigate your profiles; your friends, where you live, how close you are to your family, your way of communicating etc. This makes it easier for them to articulate a message that seems to be sent by you in order for your family or friends to not get suspicious. 

This also leads to the subject of what to post on social media, and on how to set your privacy settings. A lot of teenagers seem to care not that much about their privacy on the internet. However, it might happen that your parents end up losing a significant amount of money because the criminals could imitate your behaviour closely by taking a look at your social media. I think it is very important for the youngest generation, for whom social media is an even bigger part of their lives than for our generation, to be aware of the possible consequences of projecting your entire life on the internet. What do you think is the best way to prevent Whatsapp fraud?

References:

https://nos.nl/artikel/2335228-vaker-whatsapp-fraude-je-denkt-dit-overkomt-mij-niet.html 

https://www.politie.nl/themas/whatsappfraude-vriend-in-noodfraude.html 

https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/23/21068815/whatsapp-two-factor-authentication-how-to-security-privacy-hacking-pin-backup 

https://www.crimesite.nl/buit-whatsapp-fraude-een-miljoen-euro-per-week-video/

https://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/nederland/artikel/5171335/fraude-whatsapp-cybercrime-oplichting-zakkenrollerij-politie 

4.67/5 (3)

As of Saturday the 10th of October, the application ‘Corona Melder’ will become available for every inhabitant of the Netherlands. After a testing period of nearly two months, in which the application was tested in five Municipal and Regional Health Service (GGD) regions, it is time to face the greater public.

Through arbitrary Bluetooth signals, ‘Corona Melder’ recognizes other phones that have the app installed as well. In case you are located closely to another user of the app, the app will save the arbitrary code of the other user. Once an user of the app receives a positive test result for corona, this person will be asked to warn other users via the app. However, this is voluntary. If the positively tested user chooses to inform the users that have been in close contact with them, these users will receive a message regarding the fact that there is a possibility that they are infected with corona. In addition, it provides advice on what to do. When a significant amount of people will really start to make use of the application, and are also willing to warn their co-users in case of a positive corona test, then the application could positively contribute to the process of slowing down the current pace at which the corona virus is spreading.

Yesterday, the Dutch senate approved the temporary law that allows the implementation of the application. However, the introduction of such a corona application can be seen as controversial. Especially the topic of privacy is one that is touched upon regularly. According to the Dutch government, the application only makes use of arbitrary codes sent through Bluetooth, which do not include personal information. In the end of August, the government claimed that the app was entirely safe. However, one month later, a research team of  the non-profit consultancy Radically Open Security (ROS) found that through the fact that GGD workers can review if a positively tested person has downloaded the app and made use of the warning signal,  the GGD could persuade the tested person to make use of the warning system. Therefore, the information application would not be entirely private. This issue seems to have passed by, however, as applications can never be entirely safe and privacy related issues are always prone to arise at a later stage, question marks about the safety guarantee are easy to raise.

In the end, there will always exist the discussion between those who take the opinion of the government as a guiding voice, especially when it comes to our own health benefits, and the  ones that question the credibility of any application when it comes to privacy issues. For both parties there is a lot to say. However,  in crisis situations like the current corona pandemic these discussions might enter different directions than without a crisis. To what extent do we allow ourselves and others to be critical about possible privacy issues when choices need to be made on short terms, and health is at risk?

 

References: 

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/coronavirus-app/vraag-en-antwoord/hoe-werkt-de-corona-app  

https://coronamelder.nl/ 

https://www.privacy-web.nl/nieuws/privacyprobleem-gespot-in-coronamelder-wordt-voor-landelijke-lancering-verholpen