The October 15 Hijacking of Graciela Olmedo’s WhatsApp
Graciela Olmedo lost control of her WhatsApp account after falling for a scam involving a verification code.
The 550 Code and the Neighbor Debt Ploy
The breach began with a phone call. The caller warned Olmedo that her phone number was tied to a neighbor’s data, claiming the neighbor intended to take out a debt under Olmedo’s name. She was instructed to await a text message containing a verification code and to keep it strictly confidential.
The message arrived from the short code 550. Mistaking it for an official notification from the telecommunications provider Tigo, Olmedo followed the instructions.
“Me dijeron también que me iba a llegar un mensaje de texto y que no comparta ese código y que yo nomás tenía que saber. Ese mensaje no me llegó desde un número normal sino desde el 550 y yo en mi ignorancia creí que era de Tigo. Me pidieron enviar el código para que mi vecino no se endeude a mi nombre, incluso me dieron el nombre del vecino que supuestamente iba a hacer eso y cuando envié al número de mi vecino ese código que me mandaron ya cortaron todo de mi,” Olmedo recounted to InfoCapiibary.
Exploiting Contacts and Inverfin Collectors
Once the account was hijacked, the perpetrators immediately targeted Olmedo’s messaging contacts. They messaged multiple acquaintances asking for money under her identity.
“Había sido hay mucha gente dispuesta a ayudarme, pero siento tanto que se les hayan estafado. Hasta a mis cobradores de Inverfin le pidieron,” Olmedo stated.
Unauthorized Bank Transfer and Public Warning
Sixteen individuals transferred money after believing the requests originated from her. Beyond the messaging scam, the attackers accessed her bank account and executed an unauthorized transfer of G. 420,000.
Olmedo has publicly urged her acquaintances to ignore any incoming requests for money sent through her compromised channels.
