A recent study, carried out in the State of São Paulo, revealed that the Whatsapp is the platform most frequently cited in police reports related to digital crimes. In this way, the platform consolidates itself as the predominant choice for fraudsters and mobile device attackers.
The data collected highlights that the most common crimes involve digital fraud and cell phone hacking. A recent case illustrates the worrying trend of scams on WhatsApp: Kenzo Yama, a resident of São Paulo, received a message with a GIF that said “I love you”, claiming to be from his mother.
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However, the sender's number was unknown, which raised immediate suspicions. After receiving a response with spelling errors, Yama realized that it was an attempted scam, in which the scammer was requesting money.
He shared his experience on Reddit, but unfortunately, more than 9,645 people fell for it. scams similar on WhatsApp in São Paulo.
75,102 incidents of digital fraud and invasions of digital devices were analyzed between January 2019 and April this year in São Paulo.
This data was not included in the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook due to the lack of official disclosure on the part of the state and the absence of a methodology to distinguish crimes in the digital environment from the physical environment.
Scams include identity theft, in which criminals obtain information from social media to pose as relatives or friends. Additionally, there is the spread of malicious links and fake job offers on WhatsApp.
In the capital of São Paulo, which accounts for 31% of police reports, Instagram leads with 2,562 cases, followed closely by WhatsApp, with 2,047.
It is important to highlight that the population of the capital represents 25.78% of the total of the State of São Paulo, according to data from the 2022 census.
Digital crimes increased significantly in April 2020, almost tripling compared to March. This increase coincided with the beginning of social isolation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Only in December 2020, the Civil Police Cybercrime Division was established to improve the analysis of these crimes, which were previously underreported.
Underreporting is a major challenge, as many victims do not immediately recognize the scam or have doubts about the police's ability to resolve it. This results in only eight out of every ten thousand cases detected between January 2019 and April this year.
Authorities recommend that victims file police reports in cases of digital scams, which include electronic fraud and document forgery.
In Brazil, there are two laws that address these digital crimes: the Cybercrime Law (Caroline Dieckmann Law) and Law 14,155 of 2021, which deals with the invasion of computer devices.
Therefore, it is essential that users are aware of the risks on digital platforms, take measures to protect themselves against scams and report incidents to authorities. This emphasizes the importance of raising awareness in the fight against growing digital crimes.
Source: Time.
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