The independent journalist José Luis Tan Estrada issued a public alert through his segment #TanteandoCuba on Facebook regarding a type of fraud that affects users in the buying and selling groups of Revolico in the province of Camagüey.
According to reports, scammers post advertisements for essential goods at prices well below the informal market to attract victims, and then steal their WhatsApp accounts.
"There are unscrupulous individuals who are dedicating themselves to posting essential goods for sale in the Revolico groups of the province at prices below those in the informal market," warned Tan Estrada in the video, which has garnered over 32,000 views.
The scam begins with a seemingly legitimate advertisement: the scammers include their phone number in the post to project trust. When the victim contacts them, they receive a link to a supposed WhatsApp sales group of a small and medium-sized enterprise.
"This man, woman, or the person behind these scams sends you a supposed link to a WhatsApp group for sales of a small or medium-sized enterprise to hack your accounts," explained the journalist.
Fraud operates in two variants. In the first, the malicious link directly compromises the victim's accounts. In the second and more elaborate scheme, the scammer requests the six-digit verification code that WhatsApp sends via SMS when attempting to register an account on a new device. Whoever provides that code loses control of their account: the criminal registers it on their own phone and impersonates the victim to request money from their contacts.
Tan Estrada pointed out that the vulnerability of the victims has a clear cause: "There are people who have fallen into the trap because, unfortunately, they do not have much experience with social media, and the desperation of daily life leads to this consequence."
And he concluded his alert with a direct warning: "Don't click on links you don't recognize and especially do not send codes to others regarding access to your social media accounts, because then your accounts get hacked, and they start asking for money and talking as if they were you."
The comments on the video enriched the complaint with details identified by the victims themselves. One user pointed out that the scammers "post under different names in the Revolicos groups and maintain the phone number ending in 2521."
Another pointed out that this scheme also extends to fake job offers: "They offer jobs, claim to have several positions in small and medium enterprises, and the first thing they ask for is your card number from any BANK or BPA or classic, and that's how they scam you."
A third commentator pointed out that liquefied gas is another of the products used as a lure.
"In most cases, they list more than one phone number and the prices of the goods are significantly lower than the current ones," noted another user.
And one added a practical piece of advice: "Enable two-step authentication on your networks, and do not share personal codes with anyone."
This type of fraud using social media has spread in Cuba. A woman in Camagüey was scammed in March after joining a WhatsApp group with a similar scheme, and in August another victim lost $1,900 due to a WhatsApp hack.
In May, reports of a new wave of scams posted losses of up to 70,000 pesos in various provinces.
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