An IT expert, Onu Grace has warned users of the online messaging apps not to click on links in forwarded messages offering free internet.
Grace, founder of Clickaway Hub, based in Abuja, stated this on Tuesday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja.

Clickaway Hub in an ICT firm that is into training of young school leavers in ICT skills.

According to Grace the message promising to unlock free internet access upon clicking is a new method of scam that has been recently adopted by scammers.

She stated that oftentimes such messages promising free internet were sent across on the chatting platforms by some users.

“Example of such messages reads WhatsApp offers 100GB free internet, or N3,600 credit and 10GB internet; or WhatsApp is celebrating 20 years anniversary get free 10G; WhatsApp is updating its features, get free unlimited internet.

“A lot of times we receive such messages, but in the search for online freebies do not click on the attached link because you might just be a scam away.

“The attached linked URL is not WhatsApp official website, instead it is set up by scammers,’’ She said.

She added that the first click might seem harmless as it often would direct users to a survey questionnaire asking one to fill out about your opinions and options.

“Most often, after filling such questionnaire, it instructs one to pass on the offer to 30 more people to qualify for the internet reward.

“Such is just a ploy to boost the reach of the scam campaign and have more prospective victims to hack their phone device,’’ She said.

According to her, eventually, such links after a while end up becoming scam sites which can be used to gain access to users online information which had been earlier provided in the filled questionnaire.

She noted that scammers could use such links to install malicious software or virus on ones device which could be dangerous or damaging.

She also advised that if such message was received, users should simply ignore and not pass unto others to stop further spread of malware-laden content.

NAN