The Judiciary Police (PJ) urged the public to be wary of messages about winning a bogus “sweepstake” purportedly from a large online shopping platform.
According to a PJ statement on Saturday, a local resident recently reported to the Judiciary Police that his or her social media account had been hacked, adding that he or she received a number of phone calls from his or her relatives and friends, saying that they had received text messages sent from the resident’s social media account. However, the resident told the police that he or she could not log in to his or her social media platform before receiving the calls.
The statement said that the text messages received by his or her relatives and friends claimed that they had been entered into a “sweepstake” held by a large online shopping platform in nearby cities and had won a prize. The statement added that they were required to fill in their personal information, in order to claim the prize.
At the same time, the statement noted, the Judiciary Police had been notified by another local resident that he or she had received a text message from his or her friend via a social media platform, asking the resident if he or she could use the resident’s phone number to participate in a sweepstake held by the same online shopping platform.
According to the statement, the resident agreed that the friend could use the phone number, the friend then asked the resident to provide his or her credit card information and relevant security code, which the resident immediately provided.
The statement pointed out that the resident then found that his or her friend’s social media account had been hacked and that the resident’s credit card information had been used to make purchases.
The statement did not identify either of the residents’ genders.
In view of the past cases of residents’ social media accounts or communications software being hacked by unknown people, and sending text messages to the list of relatives and friends to obtain their personal information by claiming that they have participated in “sweepstakes”, so as to defraud them, the statement said, underlining that members of the public should be especially vigilant when someone asks them to provide their personal or financial information or any money on social networks.
In general, the Judiciary Police urged the public to always carefully manage their social media platforms and communication software by setting complex passwords with high security and changing them regularly. Residents are encouraged to call the crime-report hotline 993 or the anti-scam hotline 8800 7777 for assistance, the statement underlined.
This poster provided by the Judiciary Police (PJ) on Saturday urges the public to be wary of bogus sweepstakes from a large online shopping platform.
