Sugar daddy scam uses Instagram to ask for money – 04/12/2023 – Tech

“I’m looking for a sweet baby who can listen to my feelings and sometimes I get naughty.” The message, written in Spanish with features of Google Translator, accompanies a proposal: US$ 4,000 (R$ 20,331) per month for the service.

The Instagram profile shows a grey-haired, blue-eyed, muscular man who, according to the Sheet found, sent offers of money for exchanges of sexual messages to at least five young people.

The proposal, however, is the first step in a scammer approach to asking for money.

In the photos, the profile “anthony_owens_37” publishes hashtags from Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Australia and France, but the WhatsApp number he uses has a Nigeria prefix (+234). The followers of the alleged Anthony Owens show evidence of inauthentic purchased accounts, which follow thousands of people without knowing them.

In conversation with the report, the fake profile presented itself as “sugar daddy” (sugar daddy, in free translation), a term used to refer to older men with the fetish of supporting younger partners.

Afterwards, he asked for bank and email information and requested a transfer to pay an alleged international transfer fee. All requests were denied.

Dozens of people in Brazil report receiving similar scams on Twitter. Most targets are women.

Music producer Dan Stroll received a similar offer from the profile “andrew___richard_”. This fake account also sent screenshots of another alleged interaction with another young woman, to show that the initial payment of US$100 enabled an international transfer of US$5,000. The images were part of the persuasion strategy behind the coup.

The user “@LNovacov” claims to have suffered sanctions for publishing prints of the conversation she had with the embezzler, since the dialogue referring to prostitution would violate the rules of the Instagram community.

Among the gay public that suffered from the attempted fraud, fraud was already considered common on the Grindr dating app.

Wanted, Meta, owner of Instagram, claims to prohibit any fraudulent activities on the social network. “We’re always improving our technology to combat suspicious activity. We also encourage people to report any suspicious activity on Instagram that they believe may go against our Community Guidelines through the app itself,” she said in a statement.

According to the company, Instagram users can choose not to receive messages from strangers in the “Message Controls” tab in their privacy settings.

Asked via email, Grinder did not respond.

According to the cybersecurity company Avast, the most adopted approach by fake “sugar daddies” is to approach with financial promises and then ask for a payment from the victim, which would enable a larger transfer to be made by the scammer.

Criminals can also use the interaction to try to obtain personal data, in the scam known as phishing – a reference to the verb to fish, in English, in allusion to the existence of a bait. This information is used to apply new scams or allow online transactions.

The victim is still vulnerable to links contaminated with malicious programs, sent by fraudsters, under the justification of confirming the international shipment. Criminals cite transfer apps like Cash App and PayPal, which would make the alleged operation possible, without bureaucracy.

HOW TO AVOID SCAMMER MESSAGES

To avoid messages from scammers, you can enable the option to only receive messages from followers in Instagram Settings. This functionality is on the Privacy tab, in the “Message Controls” section. In the “Other people on Instagram” field, select “Do not receive requests”.

In “Privacy”, in the “Hidden words” tab, it is still possible to create a filter to avoid interactions with profiles citing certain words. Blocking the word “sugar daddy” can prevent fraud or harassment episodes.

Another way to avoid these messages is to make the account private. This option can also be activated in the Privacy section, and prevents non-followers from seeing photos and videos published on the profile.

Private accounts, however, cannot mention profiles they don’t follow in comments or photos.

Users can still enable the option to only be followed by those who approve. Thus, it is only possible to send a message who has approval for it.

BLOCK

The blocked person does not receive notification and loses the ability to send messages or find the blocker’s profile. Information on blocking accounts can be found at this link.

By blocking a profile, it is possible to veto new accounts that the same person creates, to make it difficult for the abuser to resume contact.

REPORT IT

Meta also encourages people to report any suspicious Instagram accounts or activity through the reporting tools.

• To report abusive behavior, click on the ellipses at the top right of the profile and select the “Report” option.
• Instagram then asks the reason for the complaint. Meta advises choosing the options “Content is inappropriate” and “Is pretending to be someone else”
• This last option requires the user to specify whether the fake account is pretending to be you, an acquaintance, an organization or a public figure.

Finally, click on “Report account”

AVOID HAVING YOUR ACCOUNT STOLEN

To strengthen account security, it is recommended to enable two-factor authentication option in security settings.

When someone tries to connect to the account, they will need to verify the attempt on another device.

The CERT.br Internet Security Booklet (Center for Studies, Responses and Treatment of Security Incidents in Brazil) also indicates these precautions to protect your social networks:

• Be selective when accepting followers
• Set your account to private when possible
• Verify the person’s identity before accepting them into your network
• Block fake accounts,
• Avoid publicly sharing personal information
• Adjust the target audience for the photos you share

The material is available at this link.