Weight loss Scam hits Snapchat online

The sudden mount in technology has also led to the increase in scams in almost all devices available be it their websites, computer, browsers or e-mails.

We all are aware of the fact that scams, viruses and spyware affects the applications available but is it surprising enough to learn that a messaging application like Snapchat might also be affected by one. Previously, only certain games and apps had fallen prey to such issues. The scams would collect personal information of its users to market or sell insane products to them. These pirates have now found newer and more effective ways of convincing people to purchase their fake products, and that it by hitting the user personally.

For instance, if an acquaintance of yours sees your photograph and comments that you would only be able to look good if you lose weight, you will most probably think that it is correct. This is the concept underlying the weight loss scam.

Fake user logins

It is quite possible that today you might receive a message from your friends’ account on Snapchat saying that you are obese and need to lose weight. You might also receive a link with the message stating that the procedure given in the link should be used for losing your weight faster. Be cautious of it, as it is most likely a scam and has nothing to do with the opinion of your acquaintance. The amount of hacked user logins has not been specifically recognized till date, but Yahoo has been receiving several complaints from users around the globe that the scam has started bothering them as well. Yahoo has revealed that over 4.6 million user logins were stolen and were used for the purpose of this scam.

Official announcement

Snapchat representative has evidence that there are multiple users with identical credentials on other websites and this is being wrongly used against them. In view of this, Snapchat officials feel that having a strong and unique password combination is a way to protect identity and also to be extra careful when security breaches is brought to their notice. A common trend noticed was of a weight loss scam of a particular user whose image was sent to all in the contact list. This was then used to promote how one can get rid of excess weight, and it is hoped that Snapchat would recover from this security bug soon.

How does the scam take place?

Scam that has affected Snapchat is the sharing of spam pictures of fruit based drinks directing them to websites like Snapfroot and Frootsnap. Those who visit the stated websites are again directed to other WebPages where they are introduced to Groupon dealing sites. Although, Snapchat has no familiarity with Groupon the likeliness of the site is used to make the offers looks real and legitimate. It is here, that they are claiming to present supply of a weight loss supplement free for 30 days and this has been commonly referred to as the diet pill scam.