Don't click on unknown links in WhatsApp, cops warn of new pishing attack

Kolkata: Kolkata Police has come to know about a style of cyber crime where smartphones are being hacked using mirror application technology.

Recently a professor of a city based university became the victim of this kind of cyber fraud. She had received a call from unknown people claiming that they are calling from the bank where salary accounts of the university are operational. They even took names of a few other professors to gain her trust.

After the professor was convinced, the fraudsters sent a link and asked her to click on it to update KYC. As soon as she clicked on the link, her smartphone started behaving unnaturally. While the colour of the mobile screen kept changing and several messages were being automatically sent.

After a while the phone got switched off on its own. Despite repeated attempts she failed to turn it on.

After a few moments when the smartphone started again, it was found that around Rs five lakh was debited from her bank account. Though she lodged a complaint at the cyber crime police station, cops are yet to track the miscreants.

Cyber experts suspect that the link on which the professor clicked was a way to hack into the smartphone.

Smartphones can be hacked using programming languages. When people click on suspicious links, on several occasions a mirror application is being downloaded using which fraudsters gain control.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday Kolkata Police cautioned people through a social media post about not to click on any suspicious link received in WhatsApp.

Cops claimed that after clicking on the link a verification code will be generated which the fraudsters will ask people to share. If the code is shared, the control of WhatsApp can be compromised.