WhatsApp Accounts Under Attack: How Fake Account Statements Are Putting Users at Risk

New Delhi: The Centre on Friday said that coordinated action by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), including geo-blocking of command-and-control (C2) servers through the Sahyog Portal, has protected more than 10,000 Indians from a WhatsApp account takeover campaign.

In a statement, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said I4C has observed a sharp rise in complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) regarding the takeover of WhatsApp accounts through malicious files disguised as account statements and communications purportedly issued by regulatory authorities.

“Through these coordinated interventions, more than 10,000 Indians have been protected from this campaign so far. Malwares are being blocked regularly through Sahyog Portal,” the ministry said. According to the MHA, incidents following an identical modus operandi have been reported from several states, including Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. I4C had earlier issued an advisory on June 22 warning citizens about the emerging threat involving regulatory and executive impersonation for WhatsApp account takeovers.

“In the reported incidents, victims receive a compressed (.zip) file over WhatsApp, SMS or e-mail bearing names such as Statement of Account.zip (often prefixed with a date, e.g. 0714 Statement of Account.zip) or RBI.zip, MCA.zip,” it explained.

These messages are crafted to resemble routine account statements or urgent notices from regulators, prompting recipients to open the files immediately.

“When the file is extracted and opened on a Windows desktop or laptop, a Trojan is installed which compromises the device and hijacks the victim’s active WhatsApp Web session. In many cases, emails are also sent impersonating Income Tax Department,” the ministry mentioned.

“The compromised WhatsApp account is thereafter misused to automatically circulate the same malicious file to all the contacts and groups of the victim, typically with a request to forward the file to the recipient’s “company finance manager for verification” and to open it on a computer, thereby extending the chain of infection deeper into corporate networks,” it added.

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