Indian Army Warns Military Personnel About New WhatsApp Scam

The Additional Directorate General of Public Information (Indian Army) took to Twitter to warn military personnel about scam messages spreading through WhatsApp, SMS and email. The department said it has found fraud messages claiming to be sent by the Army Service Corps, Rashtriya Rifles and Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment (BHDC) around Covid vaccination targeting military personnel.

The Indian Army said that these messages ask users to click on a link on the pretext of issuing a digital certificate for covid vaccine. It told personnel to be aware of such messages and not to click on any such links or respond to such messages.

“Military personnel are receiving fraudulent messages claiming to be from #AFC #RR #BHDC to click on links on Whatsapp/ SMS/E mails for updation of vaccination status on CoWin app for issue of digital certificate. It is advised not to respond to such fraudulent attempts,” tweeted Additional Directorate General of Public Information from its official Twitter handle.
Scammers are leveraging the Covid situation in India to spread malware and also to phish personal information from users. Recently, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) issued a fresh advisory to warn citizens about fake CoWin vaccine registration apps that are spreading through SMS.

CERT-In mentioned that fake messages are in circulation through SMS that falsely claims to offer an app to let users register for COVID-19 vaccine in India. While the exact wordings of the SMS may differ from time to time, the SMS suggest users to download any of the five APK files on their Android phones and install the app. These fake apps are simply phishing attempts made to steal passwords and other personal information.

Source: ToI