WhatsApp Rolls-Out Emojis and Sharing of Files Over 2GB
Following last month’s announcement, Meta’s WhatsApp is rolling-out emojis and the ability to share files within WhatsApp up to 2GB in size.
The UK’s national fraud reporting centre, Action Fraud, says that it has received 196 reports of scam emails claiming to be raising funds for victims of the war in Ukraine.
In a Meta / Facebook post on 18 March, Action Fraud reported:
“We’ve received 196 reports about FAKE emails purporting to raise money for those affected by the crisis in Ukraine. Some of the emails even claim to be from Wladimir Klitschko.”
ESET researchers have also reported seeing a number of fake websites showing images of soldiers and explosions and the flag of Ukraine, asking for aid donations but with no specific details of how the money will be used. ESET commented in tweet: “Cybercriminals have no shame. With no humanitarian organization and only generic purpose mentioned, scammers try to lure out money from people trying to help #Ukraine during the #war.”
The advice from Action Fraud is that if any suspicious emails are received, they should be forwarded to: report@phishing.gov.uk. Also, the Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator have published information online here to help the public to ‘give safely’ to registered charities and causes helping to support and protect people affected by the invasion of Ukraine.
The Charity Commission and Fundraising Regulator suggest that those looking to donate to causes working in Ukraine and neighbouring countries should make some simple checks before donating, such as:
Helen Stephenson CBE, Chief Executive of the Charity Commission, said about donating causes helping the people of Ukraine: “We encourage everyone to follow our simple steps to check that their money gets to its intended cause. Donating to a registered charity is a good way to feel confident of that.”
Just as we saw with the pandemic, scammers will exploit any situation to extract money and sensitive, personal information from people. Situations where there is a strong emotional response and an urge to help and move quickly are ideal for scammers who rely people acting on emotional impulse and not checking or using critical thought or discussing their intentions with others who may alert them to the danger. Taking time to make simple checks, such as some basic online research can help ensure that money goes to those who need it rather than to fraudsters funding more crime. The advice is to be on the alert for fake emails and social-media posts from scammers looking to cash-in on the crisis in Ukraine, report and to delete and suspicious emails and make some basic checks before donating to any charity or organisation.
Following last month’s announcement, Meta’s WhatsApp is rolling-out emojis and the ability to share files within WhatsApp up to 2GB in size.
Apple, Google and Microsoft have announced that they are joining forces to support a common passwordless sign-in standard that will allow websites and apps to offer consistent, secure and easy sign-ins across devices and platforms.
In this article, we look at the legal issues around recording calls on your mobile, and the different methods for doing so.