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There are many scammers targeting cryptocurrency investors, constantly developing new methods to defraud them. Social engineering becomes the biggest weapon for scammers if the right stories and traps are set. The only thing investors can do to cope with these methods is to become aware and remain constantly skeptical.
MASAK Crypto Currency SMS Alert
Scammers trying to capture investors’ exchange login information are trying various methods. For instance, they post fake campaign ads on X (Twitter) and direct them to registration links. Or they advertise on Google and try to trap them with domains similar to exchange web addresses.
The latest method involved SMS messages that appeared to be sent by MASAK. A reader reached out to COINTURK and shared a screenshot of such a message. This method, which has been discussed on social media for a while, necessitated an official statement from MASAK yesterday.
Messages like the one above are generally sent illegally from hacked SMS service providers. No matter what the sender’s name displays, if you are asked to click on an external link, there is certainly something to be suspicious of. Today’s SMSs using the name Paribu could be sent in the future in the name of other local exchanges or global exchanges like Binance.
In the statement made by MASAK yesterday, it was written:
“In recent notifications to our Presidency, it has been observed that scammers are attempting to capture information by sending short messages (SMS) to some mobile phones stating that ‘digital currency accounts have been restricted due to a MASAK investigation’, leading our citizens to download applications to their phones or to enter their identification information on certain internet addresses to allegedly remove the restriction.”
For the avoidance of any fraud, it is of great importance that our citizens do not take such messages seriously, do not click on the links in these messages, do not download any applications from these links to their mobile phones, and do not enter their identification information on the websites directed by the links in these messages.”
Victim Psychology
Social engineering attackers know the importance of triggering emotional changes in the target to succeed, and that’s precisely what they do. People worry about the seriousness of state institutions and do not want to confront them. That’s why we see scammers introducing themselves as Judges, Prosecutors, Intelligence Officers, or Commissioners.
In the latest attack method, scammers posing as MASAK could concoct many different attack scenarios in the future to ensnare cryptocurrency investors. Therefore, if anyone posing as a government official contacts you and tries to scare you, you can simply hang up the phone without listening any further.
Real institutions like the Police, Intelligence, or Prosecutor’s Office do not call you and try to convince you of anything over the phone or ask you to contribute to ongoing operations. But scammers do. By triggering fear in their targets, scammers can capture their victims’ information by directing them to fake web addresses. Moreover, they can do this easily with just a single mass message.
Therefore, investors should always remind themselves to maintain their composure in abnormal situations and not to be manipulated in a panic. Besides, no antivirus, firewall, or other software can protect you from such phishing and social engineering attacks.
