2024-01-19 16:53:00
Making a video call has become even more popular in recent years, with the needs throughout the coronavirus pandemic, both for personal and professional purposes. Consequently, new dangerous situations have emerged with this practice, which end up demanding more and more attention from the user, especially when the call is made with unknown people.
After all, what are the main threats to making a video call and how to protect yourself from these risks? O TudoCelular Detective separated the main topics of the theme for you.
Image capture
One of the most common criminal practices with this type of action is capturing images of victims, to later use them in virtual scams, as well as exploiting them to authenticate themselves on websites or applications that require facial biometrics.
Video calls are made through the software used for the task. Depending on the program used, one of its tools will be recording the call screen. In possession of this material, the scammer will be able to edit sections and save certain scenes in more sensitive moments.
According to the coordinator of the Information Security and Cyber Defense Technology degrees at Senac EAD, Evandro Carlos Teruel, this act can be applied to a series of illegalities.
“Once the video call is recorded, any excerpt or snapshot (moment) of the video can be obtained and even improved or changed with the help of artificial intelligence tools. In this way, the action can be used in the most diverse contexts, such as falsifying documents and account access credentials, for example.”
Evandro Carlos Teruel
Coordinator of Information Security and Cyber Defense Technology degrees at Senac EAD
Data combination
Discovering the person’s image may be just the first step towards obtaining more data on the victim. With knowledge of your image, the cybercriminal will be able to “study” the victim better.
Thus, one of the threats is the discovery of the affected person’s social networks, which – in addition to their name – might provide new sensitive information, which will facilitate future scams carried out using their name.
extortion
In other cases, there are fraudsters who take advantage of being in possession of intimate images of the victim to extort money from them, through blackmail – the so-called sextortion. Cybercriminals threaten to publish certain screenshots if they do not receive a certain amount of money.
In practice, the criminal comes into contact with the potential victim, posing as a person who wants a relationship. When making a video call, the scammer displays intimate images and, when the victim’s face appears, takes screenshots and then threatens to publish them on the internet if the person refuses to pay a specific amount.
The situation became famous in 2021 with the name “Golpe da novinha”. The cybercriminal pretends to be a woman and mainly targets men, who receive supposed nudes and then send intimate videos back.
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Security tools
With these risks, several companies have already prepared themselves to prevent any fraud attempt from being successful. An example is the facial biometrics of some banks and retailers, which already use technology to identify unique points per individual and prevent the process from being circumvented by prior recordings.
According to Unico’s chief cybersecurity researcher, Guilherme Bacellar, technological advances prevent a tool from confusing two people when identifying the customer’s face.
“In this way, not only the image is considered, but biometric points are also observed and calculated on the face that is presented. These points are unique per individual. Thus, in addition to drastically reducing the possibility of the technology confusing two people, it is also less susceptible to accepting previously recorded images.”
Guilherme Bacellar
Chief cybersecurity researcher at Unico
Proof of life is another feature highlighted by the specialist. With it, the user needs to capture the user’s expression live. In other words, a static photo or a previous recording would not work for the tool.
“This was a technology that really changed the game. It guarantees that the image that will be analyzed was captured live, in person in front of the camera, not allowing photos (whether printed or on screen) or pre-recorded videos to be used for the authentication process.”
How to protect yourself?
Among the main tips to protect yourself in these situations is the most basic one of not answering video calls or forwarding photos or videos to unknown people, on messengers such as WhatsApp, Telegram or others. It’s also worth avoiding overexposure of your photos on social media, especially selfies with your face in evidence.
Another recommendation is to be aware of online scams. Two of the main ones include the mystery gift, in which a delivery person informs you that they need to capture an image of your face to ensure the gift is sent to the right person; while the job vacancy request sends documents and a selfie for a false application.
Have you ever experienced any kind of danger during a video call with someone you don’t know? Tell us in the space below.
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