Another day, another scam alert from Delta Police.
DPD would like to warn citizens against an online scam involving your online accounts. Known as a Password Reset Scam, fraudsters aim to gain control of your social media accounts for nefarious purposes.
“In this scam, a suspect gains control or impersonates your friend’s social media account, then using a false story, convinces you to unknowingly send them a password reset link to your own account,” says DPD. “The pretense that the suspect provides could be a great many things.”
In one variation seen recently in Delta involving Instagram, the suspect claims to be applying for an online ambassadorship which requires the victim to vote for them. In that case, the victim received a link similar to the one pictured, which they didn’t recognize as a password reset link.
“Once the suspect gains access to your account, they could use it to steal your personal information present on the site, target your friends with further scams or use that access to try and take over more of your accounts,” adds police.
The Delta Police offers the following recommendations to keep yourself safe from this scam:
• Never forward links such as the above example to anyone, even if they’re friend;
• If your “friend” makes such a request, contact them by another means (phone, in person, another app, etc.) to see if their account has been compromised;
• Protect your accounts from compromise by setting up two-factor authentication (Instagram, Google, and countless other services now support this added security).
• Should you find yourself victim of this or any other scam, report it to our non-emergency line at 604-946-4411 or online at deltapolice.ca, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
