Beware of WhatsApp wedding scams—How a simple invitation could empty your bank

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Winter is setting in across India, heralding the beginning of the wedding season. With numerous weddings scheduled for the latter part of this year and early 2025, reports sugges that India will host a staggering 3.5 million weddings in November and mid-December alone. However, this wedding season is also bringing with it a worrying trend—an increase in scams. While weddings and scams may not seem to go hand in hand, scammers are now exploiting wedding invitations as a means to steal money by sending invites using WhatsApp.

Also Read: How to convert JPEG to PNG on Mac in seconds—No apps needed

Scammers are sending fake digital wedding invitations via WhatsApp. These invitations often come in the form of APK files, masquerading as wedding invites. When unsuspecting users download and open these files, thinking they are harmless, they inadvertently install dangerous on their devices.

This harmful APK file grants scammers access to sensitive information on the victim's phone, including OTPs, messages, contacts, and even banking apps.

Scammers may use similar tactics for other schemes, such as fake loan offers, lottery messages, or anything designed to grab your attention. The goal remains the same—to trick you into downloading and installing a malicious APK file.

Also Read: Best 5G phones under ₹15,000 in November 2024 from Nothing, Redmi, Vivo and more

The Himachal Pradesh Police have issued warnings about this scam. They have advised against downloading files from untrusted sources and emphasised the risks associated with APK files. To protect yourself, they recommend: Keeping your device updated with the latest software and security patches, and enabling two-factor authentication for additional security.

Also Read: Did we kill Mars? New theory suggests Viking missions may have accidentally destroyed potential life on Mars