5 Ways To Avoid Phishing On WhatsApp And Telegram Messaging Apps

Several messaging applications are currently prone to criminal infiltration. (photo: Lobo Studio Hamburg / Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Research from security company Kaspersky shows that phishing scammers often attack users of messaging applications running on the Android operating system.

Data shows a large number of malicious links detected between December 2020 and May 2021 were sent via WhatsApp at 89.6 percent, followed by Telegram at 5.6 percent. Viber is in third place with a share of 4.7 percent and Hangouts is less than one percent.

Meanwhile, the countries that experienced the most phishing attacks were Russia 46 percent, Brazil 15 percent and India 7 percent. At least globally as many as 480 detections are recorded per day.

According to research, messaging apps have surpassed social networks by 20 percent in 2020, in terms of the most popular communication tools and popularity among users. The survey results also show that in 2020, the global audience for messaging applications has reached 2.7 billion people, and by 2023 it is expected to grow to 3.1 billion. That's almost 40 percent of the world's population.

Through Kaspersky Internet Security's new Safe Messaging feature for Android, the company analyzed anonymous clicks on phishing links across messaging apps and found that between December 2020 and May 2021, a total of 91,242 detections were recorded globally.

Based on statistics, WhatsApp has the most number of malicious links, given that it is the most popular messaging app globally. And, the number of malicious messages most detected in Russia 42 percent, Brazil 17 percent and India 7 percent.

“Statistics show that phishing on instant messenger apps is still one of the most popular tools among scammers. Partly because of the application's growing popularity among users, as well as the ability of the application's built-in functionality to launch attacks," said Tatyana Shcherbakova, Senior Web Content Analyst at Kaspersky.

In addition, Kaspersky statistics for Indonesia show as many as 738 detections for WhatsApp and 39 detections for Telegram during the period December 2020 to May 2021.

Among Kaspersky Internet Security for Android users, Telegram has the least number of detections, but is geographically similar to WhatsApp. The largest number of malicious links was detected in Russia 56 percent, India 6 percent and Turkey 4 percent. The high number in Russia can be attributed to the increasing popularity of this messaging app in the country.

Meanwhile, Viber and Hangouts received fewer detection records. The main difference between them is the regional representation. The number of detections for the messaging app Viber was identified mostly in Russia with 89 percent, and CIS countries - Ukraine 5 percent and Belarus 2 percent, and most Hangouts detections came from the US 39 percent and France 39 percent.

In terms of the number of phishing attacks recorded per user on WhatsApp, Brazil leads with 177 detections and is followed by India with 158. At the same time, Russia ranks highest in the number of malicious detections on Viber with 305 and Telegram with 79 compared to other countries.

"Sometimes it is difficult to determine whether an attack is phishing, because the difference can be only one character or a small error. Vigilance supported by a form of anti-phishing technology is the most reliable solution in the fight against phishing in messenger applications," says Shcherbakova.

To reduce the risk of fraud and receiving malicious links in messaging apps, here are the steps that smartphone users should pay attention to:

1. Be alert and watch out for spelling errors or other irregularities in a link

2. You need to know, Chain scheme is a common practice, where scammers ask users to share malicious links with their contacts. Be alert and don't share any suspicious links with your contacts.

3. Scammers often use WhatsApp and other messaging applications to communicate with users found from legitimate sources (for example, various marketplaces and accommodation booking services) and also use them as a method of communication in malicious messages.

Even if the message and website look legit, the hyperlinks, more than likely, will have the wrong spelling, or they may redirect you to a different page.

4. If the message comes from one of your relatives, remember that their account can also be hacked. Remain cautious in any situation. Even if a message looks friendly, be careful of links and attachments.

5. Install a trusted security solution and follow its recommendations. Security solutions will solve most problems automatically and alert you in critical situations.