Hello

Long time lurker, first time poster etc etc…

Interested what you guys make of these WhatsApp messages I just received…

…I have no such booking…

Obviously this sort of scam/phishing nonsense is nothing new to me, but a few things stood out…

  • They have my full name and phone number 😕
  • I do use booking.com (but I suppose many do so they could assume…)
  • This WhatsApp message has been marked as “using a secure service from Meta”… So this isn’t just a random phone (I have anonymous messages blocked) they have some sort of privilege on the platform… WTF
  • They even have some special reply buttons at the end of the message.
  • I just don’t get it… Like, what are the odds they guess the dates and hotel accurately that I would bite…? And having gone to this length, why then fall at the last hurdle by having a weird sender name like “Rus Education”…?
  • irotsoma@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    2·
    19 hours ago

    Curious if the account is a legitimate Rus Education account that got hacked. I’ve been seeing that a lot lately where random legitimate businesses are contacting people about totally unrelated subjects. Seems scammers are probably using hacked business accounts to allow them to send messages to anyone without restrictions.

    • FBJimmy@lemmus.orgOPEnglish
      9·
      2 days ago

      Unfortunately, I just don’t have the social capital to move people off of Meta messaging services… A good 50% of my friends have ditched FB, but somehow saw WhatsApp as the solution 🤦

  • jordanlund@lemmy.world
    61·
    2 days ago

    All the message means is that whoever it is is using a business account.

    https://faq.whatsapp.com/64346092728323

    "You’ll see the following messages, when a business chooses to:

    Use a partner: You’ll see “This business works with other companies to manage this chat.”

    Use the WhatsApp Business Platform Cloud API (Hosted by Meta): You’ll see “This business uses a secure service from Meta to manage this chat.”

    If a business is using the WhatsApp Business app or managing and storing customer messages themselves, you’ll see: “Messages and calls are end-to-encrypted. Only people in this chat can read, listen to, or share them.”"

    So, hypothetically, if I were running a scam, yeah, I’d set up a business account using the Platform Cloud API to get that sweet, sweet “secure service” note.

    • FBJimmy@lemmus.orgOPEnglish
      4·
      2 days ago

      I get that, and it was almost certainly Booking.com who leaked it as I have had shady messages through even their own messaging platform before…

      I think what baffles me is that this gets so close to convincing (if you’re not internet savvy), and then they throw in something so bizarre like having a username of “Rus Education” 🙄