Beware of a new phishing scam that you might receive through chat applications. The scam is notifying the recipient that monetary funding is “paid” or “released” to his name and further information is needed from him to collect it.
You might receive this fake message:
“wait ecconome paid released for family, I big lovely happiness. contact us. Right email address near communication mind fresh, Your email address right At not release so you are All time our letter of wait.”
The message is written in broken English, which was probably translated from a different language.
The scammer is targeting individuals and organizations that might be needing financial assistance, especially in this time of crisis. Similar messages might hint about the current Covid-19 pandemic situation as part of its phishing strategy.
What to do if you’ve received this phishing message or something similar to it?
Make sure that you don’t provide any of your personal information and don’t attempt a conversation. Just block the visitor or flag it as a scam if your chat application has the option to flag certain visitors as scammers.
It is also important to update the version of your chat application, especially for plugins, to ensure its updated security.