Gadget Insights: Scammers target people with malicious vaccines registrations messages

Gadget Insights:As India’s vaccination drive is facing slowdowns due to the shortage of vaccines across the country, some notorious hackers and scammers are trying to use the situation for their advantage with their malpractices on unsuspecting people.

Gadget Insights

In one such case, hackers are now sending SMS claiming to register yourself to receive regular vaccine updates. But you remain cautious, as links in these messages are likely to be infested with viruses and malwares capable of stealing information and any sensitive data.

The malware, a SMS Worm, is found to be copying the contact list of the user after getting installed in a smartphone. One malware researcher named Lukas Stefanko found out about SMS Worm. He took it to Twitter, claiming that Android users in India are being targeted by this malware.

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In a series of tweets, he shared a few screenshots demonstrating how the malware attacks a smartphone via a text message. If a user clicks on these SMS links, there are chances that a malware might be installed on your smartphone, rather than providing you with any useful information about vaccines.   

The malicious SMS message directs smartphone users to download a vaccine registration app, which is again nothing but a fake app. Once the app is installed on your smartphone, it’ll start asking for multiple access to contacts lists and others along with even a permission to send and view text messages. 

An Australian risk intelligence firm named Cyble reported that hackers could use this malware to expose personal details and other data on your smartphone, along with deletion of files without authorisation from the device user.  Cyble said, “New variants of SMS-worms for Android do not appear very often, and this particular variant is an interesting piece of malware and part of a unique attack.”

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Besides tricking unsuspecting users into installing a worm and other malwares that they may not wish for; the worm can also use up the billing plan of users by automatically sending messages without their knowledge.