2017 is a year characterized by the proliferation of false news and the increase of scams or online fraud, as well as other cybersecurity problems such as DDoS attacks, phishing, or increased ransomware.
Media Literacy: All Keys to Detect the Fake News and Scams in WhatsApp
Today, we teach you how to detect hoaxes in the most famous messaging app that is WhatsApp.
Nowadays there are numerous online frauds and one of the factors that most false news and hoaxes spread as gunpowder are the virality that reaches quickly thanks to the potential of social networks and instant messaging applications. One of the most frequent tools that disseminate hoaxes, among them the false messages of the Police alerting secretly about an imminent terrorist attack, is WhatsApp.
From Panda Security, they want to provide us with keys to detect these fake news, whose effectiveness lies in making us believe that the information is secret and that the purveyors of the messages do not want to know what they contain. “We tend to believe almost everything that starts with phrases like ‘I tell you but do not tell anyone,’ ‘this has been told me by someone very close to the problem, but it is a top secret,” says Herve Lambert, Retail Global Consumer Operations Manager of the company specializing in cyber security.
If you have one of these mobiles you will not be able to use WhatsApp
Not only false warnings against journalism, but there are of all kinds such as warning of diseases caused by certain brands or products, throwing superstitious messages or spreading facts that have not happened. Almost all contain a portion of actual information to make the content more credible. Below, we give you some keys to detect the fake news and scams, according to Panda Security.
How to Detect Fake News or Scams Broadcasted by WhatsApp
Contrast the information on the Internet:
If you get a message of news to your WhatsApp and if you think that is a real news, it should be published in various media and also have achieved a remarkable position in search engines such as Google. If there is no trace of your news, chances are there that it is a fake news.
If it is an audio, contact the content issuer:
The audio format is gaining popularity in the matter of news or false broadcasts by WhatsApp. If you do not know the person who sent the information, look for sources and crawl the content on the network. If you know the sender, ask directly the person who sent you who narrates the message or where you extracted the information to assess its truth.
Examine the sources:
If the message is accompanied by a link, you must make sure that it is a known medium. To do this, pay attention to the URL of the link. You should not open it behind the classic ‘dot com’ you see a ‘.cc’, ‘.biz’, ‘.net’, etc and is a medium you know. You could also expose yourself to a ransomware attack.
Check the identity of the author:
In recent times it has been revealed that Russian hackers attacked journalists by means of phishing to get their e-mail accounts and spread false news in their names. It is essential that you look for the media in which journalists work and read the news online media. If any big issues happen surrounding us it will definitely reach online media or the television media. Be careful when the news comes from a personal blog of any particular person. If a blog is about a famous person, look it up on the Internet and check references to not be a victim of a hoax.
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You may think that it is just a small issue and who would send you such messages. But, when we are not aware of these keys we end of clicking on fake links and could have a victim for hacking. So, it is always necessary before opening any files or link or image in your WhatsApp.
These are the keys which help us to find the fake news and scams that are sent through WhatsApp Account. If you have faced any situations like this, share them with our readers, so that they will be more careful with the issues.
If you have any queries, feel free to ask us in the below comments, we will get back to you to solve all your queries as soon as possible.
