WhatsApp: What’s behind Lisa Bird’s message?

You’ve probably already received a message on WhatsApp from your supposed child, asking for money under some pretext. For a long time, this grandparent scam was one of the most widespread scams on the messenger. But now another is on the rise: job scamming.

Scammers contact you in the name of an agency and want to offer you a “great” career opportunity. This is also the case in autumn, when a Lisa Bird from the Tech People Recruitment Agency writes to you. On Reddit, the user Master_Effect9327 draws attention to the scam. In his case, the number 020 1064923317 tried to reach him twice by video call. When he responded, he received a text message.

As Master_Effect9327 correctly points out in his answer, the Egyptian phone number is particularly conspicuous. In addition, it is not assigned to Lisa Bird, but to Karen Simpson. As if that wasn’t strange enough, the caller is asked whether the conversation should be continued in English or Hungarian. All of this clearly points to an attempted scam.

We have already come across similar approaches. The scammers hope that you will accept the job offer and reveal your personal data for the application process. In some cases, the scam continues so that you carry out your last little job for the criminals and are deceived in the process. This is called task scamming.

Where did the scammers get your number?

When you receive messages, you’re probably wondering how the scammers actually got hold of your cell phone number. There are many possible scenarios. Either your number was sold on the dark web or it was disclosed in a data leak. But it could also be that a reputable company resold your data. Therefore, you should always be careful when sharing your personal information.

How to protect yourself

If you call an unknown foreign number via WhatsApp, you should always be careful. These are almost always attempts at fraud. Many calls of this type come from India in particular. We also recommend that you do not follow the example of the Reddit user and respond to the chat request. If you do, the senders will know that they are dealing with an active number. This could result in many more spam calls.

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