Police announced today that 33 cases of fraud involving iTunes gift cards perpetrated through popular messaging app LINE, have been reported since September.
According to these reports, culprits had managed to hack into victims' LINE accounts and, posing as the victim, would send out messages to contacts stored in the phone, asking them to help purchase iTunes Gift Cards on behalf of the 'victim'. The culprits would request that screenshots of the redemption codes be sent over to the victim via LINE, once the purchase had been made.
The police advises members of the public to adopt the following measures so as not to fall for a similar trick:
- Never accede to any request to make purchases or assist in any form of transaction prior to checking on its authenticity, especially if it sounds suspicious or unusual
- Alert the account holder by contacting him directly when you receive messages of such nature. This will assist you to check if he had indeed sent the messages. Alternatively, questions with answers only known to both parties such as the ‘name of the school attended together’ or ‘details of mutual friend or family members’ can be posed to verify and confirm on the identity
- Be extra careful in dealings over mobile messaging platforms such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype or LINE and be on the alert for scammer
Users of mobile messaging platforms can also protect their personal data by:
- Using individualised strong passwords of more than eight characters with numerical figures or capital letters
- Changing passwords regularly
- Not disclosing profile identification (ID) details, if any, publicly
- Installing anti-virus software on mobile devices and updating the software regularly
Photo: iTunes
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Police announced today that 33 cases of fraud involving iTunes gift cards perpetrated through popular messaging app LINE, have been reported since September.
According to these reports, culprits had managed to hack into victims' LINE accounts and, posing as the victim, would send out messages to contacts stored in the phone, asking them to help purchase iTunes Gift Cards on behalf of the 'victim'. The culprits would request that screenshots of the redemption codes be sent over to the victim via LINE, once the purchase had been made.
The police advises members of the public to adopt the following measures so as not to fall for a similar trick:
- Never accede to any request to make purchases or assist in any form of transaction prior to checking on its authenticity, especially if it sounds suspicious or unusual
- Alert the account holder by contacting him directly when you receive messages of such nature. This will assist you to check if he had indeed sent the messages. Alternatively, questions with answers only known to both parties such as the ‘name of the school attended together’ or ‘details of mutual friend or family members’ can be posed to verify and confirm on the identity
- Be extra careful in dealings over mobile messaging platforms such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Skype or LINE and be on the alert for scammer
Users of mobile messaging platforms can also protect their personal data by:
- Using individualised strong passwords of more than eight characters with numerical figures or capital letters
- Changing passwords regularly
- Not disclosing profile identification (ID) details, if any, publicly
- Installing anti-virus software on mobile devices and updating the software regularly
Photo: iTunes
Read Also:
Cool Beans: Messaging app LINE launches Singapore edition stickers