In the past few days, many people in Shanghai have received it
A FaceTime call from a stranger
Some people said that it was found after connecting
Except for the pitch-black screen
You can't see each other at all, you can only hear sounds
There are also people who complain
The other party is quite persistent
Hang one and continue to fight
What's going on here?
Today, Shanghai Anti-fraud Center
Post important notes:
Be on high alert for incoming FaceTime calls!
According to the Shanghai Anti-fraud Center, fraudsters impersonated customer service staff of e-commerce, banks or social platforms to initiate FaceTime video calls to Apple mobile phone users, using personal information obtained in advance to make up various excuses to make the subject transfer; There are also scammers who will guide the download of other conference software, and obtain important information such as the owner's password and verification code by "sharing the screen" to commit fraud.
In response to the fraud carried out through FaceTime, there are endless sayings circulating on the Internet: "Don't answer the FaceTime of strangers, otherwise you will steal your Apple ID", "As soon as you answer the phone, the mobile phone will be locked, all the data will be leaked, and the money of the bank card will be gone"... Are the consequences of picking up a stranger FaceTime really so serious? How exactly is the scam committed?
Professionals said that the FaceTime call function of the Apple mobile phone is actually a video call that can be dialed in one direction, and there is no security risk in itself, and there is no need to worry about theft of Apple ID and other problems. However, it should be warned that the video call function of FaceTime can be dialed in one direction by strangers, and there is a hidden danger of being used to carry out telecom fraud, spam harassment and video fraud.
Many people have been recruited!
How is FaceTime used for scams?
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The vast majority of people are no strangers to the video call function that comes with social software such as WeChat and QQ, but they do not know much about the FaceTime video call function that comes with Apple mobile phones because they are used less.
"As soon as the phone popped up this invitation, the front camera automatically turned on, and I picked up the phone and suddenly saw my face become the background of the phone screen, and I was shocked." Mr. Chen, a citizen, has never used the FaceTime function, and he only knew that it was a video chat function that could be interconnected between Apple devices. On July 5, he received a FaceTime call from an unfamiliar email address, which he directly hung up.
Recently, many Shanghai citizens have reported that they frequently receive FaceTime call invitations from strangers. Some people said that after connecting, they found that except for the dark screen, they could not see each other at all, and could only hear sound; Some people also said that after connecting the phone, some spam advertising information such as gambling and lending will be displayed.
So, how are scams that exploit FaceTime implemented? According to a fraud case reported by the Shanghai Jinshan Public Security Bureau, Ms. Zhang, a citizen using an iPad, received a FaceTime call from a customer service claiming to be a loan software, saying that she had signed an electronic agreement with the loan software and sent her an electronic agreement with a loan platform.
Worried about affecting personal credit, Ms. Zhang downloaded the "ZOOM" meeting software according to the other party's requirements, and conducted "screen sharing" to let the other party guide the cancellation of the account. After some operation, Ms. Zhang received a text message that more than 1.63 million yuan was deducted from the bank card. Panicked, she immediately questioned customer service. The other party also provided a so-called "China Banking Regulatory Commission certified account", which it said could help break electronic agreements with lending platforms and return money.
The so-called "verified account" sent by the scammers
Ms. Zhang listened to the other party again and was about to enter a set of 6-digit "verification codes", but unexpectedly jumped to "transfer amount". Ms. Zhang realized that something was wrong, so she hung up the other party and dialed "110" to call the police. The police initiated an emergency freeze and stop payment procedure. The bank staff inquired and found that Ms. Zhang's demand deposit of more than 1.63 million yuan was actually transferred to her regular account by fraudsters, and did not transfer it. For security reasons, Ms. Zhang reset her payment password and online banking login password.
Ms. Zhang received the information that her bank card had been charged
The Minhang Public Security Bureau also disclosed relevant cases. Mr. Xu, a citizen, received an unfamiliar FaceTime video call from a member claiming to be a payment platform worker, saying that Mr. Xu had a personal credit problem and needed to cancel his loan channel. Subsequently, on the pretext of protecting the safety of funds, the other party asked Mr. Xu to transfer the deposit in the bank card to the designated account, and Mr. Xu did so and was defrauded of more than 6,000 yuan.
In these two scams, the scammers used the traditional method of impersonating customer service, and confusingly, some victims were asked to "screen share", which may reveal information such as accounts and passwords. "FaceTime was used by scammers as a call tool to contact victims, and the fraud method is still a trick of impersonating customer service." The anti-fraud police told reporters that the key points of prevention are not to "share the screen", do not disclose personal bank account information, and do not transfer money.
There is a security risk in the video recording
The FaceTime function can be turned off
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Some network security experts told reporters that netizens panic about connecting FaceTime calls that led to mobile phone locking, theft of account information, and impact on financial security were "completely unnecessary."
In the eyes of industry insiders, mobile phones are generally locked due to Apple ID password leakage. "Stealing an Apple ID by calling FaceTime is technically almost impossible. More often, the subject is guided by scammers and actively leaks information such as account passwords. ”
FaceTime video can be simply understood as a video call, does not consume phone bills, and uses traffic. Unlike QQ videos and WeChat videos, which can only be initiated by friends, FaceTime video requests allow strangers to initiate them, so they are more likely to be used to initiate spam messages.
More security risks do exist. Industry insiders pointed out that in addition to spam, Apple mobile phone users receive FaceTime video requests from strangers, and video images may be recorded by the other party. "If the other party uses the captured video in other places, such as combined with AI face changing technology, to impersonate the identity of the owner to deceive relatives and friends, other security hazards may occur."
In fact, criminals have used video recordings to impersonate acquaintances to carry out fraud, which has occurred in recent years. The anti-fraud police said that the illegal acquisition of Apple mobile phone users' face screenshots, video videos and other information through FaceTime calls, and then carried out online telecommunications fraud, is suspected of constituting the crime of fraud.
In response to the recent frequent suspected scam calls using FaceTime access, the Municipal Anti-fraud Center also reminds that strangers' FaceTime should not be answered, and if you don't need it, you can turn off the FaceTime function through settings.
Apple phones can turn off the FaceTime function through settings
What to do if there is frequent harassment?
Tackling harassment messages requires synergy
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The reporter noticed that many netizens "complained" that FaceTime video calls are often used to carry out advertising information push, and are often harassed in work and life.
This is not only a problem with FaceTime, all kinds of harassing calls for the purpose of sales or scams have plagued everyone's lives and have been repeatedly banned. In order to control harassment information, the mainland has successively introduced relevant laws and regulations, but still faces the problem of difficulty in enforcing the law.
The Civil Code clearly stipulates that, except as otherwise provided by law or with the express consent of the right holder, no organization or individual may intrude into the private life and tranquility of others by telephone, text message, instant messenger, e-mail, leaflet, etc. In 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other 12 departments issued the "Special Action Plan for Comprehensive Rectification of Harassment Telephones", organized a one-and-a-half-year comprehensive rectification of harassment telephone special actions nationwide, and transferred to normal governance in a timely manner.
However, due to the use of technology to harass calls, some new forms have emerged, and some enterprises or individuals can still engage in marketing, fraud and other activities through this channel.
In the eyes of the industry, the governance of harassment calls has entered the "deep water area", and the existing practice of relying solely on the control of communication channels is difficult to achieve further obvious results, and it is urgent to innovate management methods and promote source governance.
"Harassment calls involve a wide range of industries and links, and governance is a complex system engineering." The above-mentioned person said that the relevant entities can cooperate to form a full-link supervision in order to completely cut off the chain of harassing calls. For example, telecommunications enterprises strengthen communication resources and user management to prevent all kinds of communication resources from being used for telephone disturbance; Technically, it is necessary to strengthen the traceability of caller ID and provide risk reminders for harassing calls. "Pooling governance forces can effectively cut off and intercept harassing calls at the source, and also help prevent the occurrence of telecom network fraud."
Quickly transfer it to your relatives and friends
Don't be fooled!
Source: Shangguan News
Editor: Wang Bo
Responsible editor: Yan Wenbin