How to deal with frequent harassment?, FaceTime becomes a new tool for fraud: These security risks require vigilance. FaceTime | Video | Security

FaceTime video calls initiated by strangers may pose a risk of fraud.

Recently, the Shanghai Anti Fraud Center issued a reminder that some scammers have impersonated customer service personnel from e-commerce, banks, or social media platforms to initiate FaceTime video calls with Apple phone users, using pre obtained personal information to fabricate various excuses for the victim to transfer funds; There are also scammers who guide the download of other conference software and obtain important information such as the victim's password and verification code through "screen sharing" to commit fraud.

Regarding the scams carried out through FaceTime, there are endless rumors circulating online: "Never answer a stranger's FaceTime, otherwise it will steal your Apple ID." "Once you answer a phone call, your phone will be locked, all information will be leaked, and your bank card money will be lost."... Is the consequences of answering a stranger's FaceTime really so serious? How is fraud actually carried out?

Experts say that the FaceTime call function on Apple phones is actually a video call that can be made in one direction, and there is no security risk in itself, so there is no need to worry about being stolen from Apple IDs or other issues. However, it should be noted that FaceTime's video call function can be used by strangers to make one-way calls, which poses a risk of being used for telecommunications fraud, spam message harassment, and video fraud.

How is FaceTime used for fraud?

The vast majority of people are not unfamiliar with the built-in video calling function of social apps such as WeChat and QQ, but they are not very familiar with the FaceTime video calling function of Apple phones because it is rarely used.

"As soon as the invitation popped up on my phone, the front camera automatically turned on. I picked up my phone and suddenly saw my face as the background of the phone screen, which startled me." Mr. Chen, a citizen, had never used the FaceTime call function before, only knowing that it was a video chat function that could be exchanged between Apple devices. On July 5th, he received a FaceTime call from an unfamiliar email address, but he hung up directly.

Recently, many Shanghai residents have reported frequently receiving FaceTime call invitations from strangers. Some people say that after connecting, they found that apart from the pitch black screen, they couldn't see the other person at all and could only hear their voice; Some people also claim that after answering the phone, they will display junk advertising information such as gambling and borrowing.

The reporter noticed that someone posted a reminder online that the FaceTime sent by strangers may be an attempt by criminals to steal the Apple ID of Apple phone users; Once the phone is connected, the other party can steal passwords and obtain various types of information stored on the phone, including passwords for various application accounts, bank account information, etc., posing a huge security risk.

So, how was the fraud using FaceTime implemented? The fraud case reported by Shanghai Jinshan Public Security Bureau shows that Ms. Zhang, a citizen, received a FaceTime call from a customer service representative of a certain loan software using her iPad. The representative claimed that she had signed an electronic agreement with the loan software and sent her an electronic agreement signed with a certain loan platform.

Worried about affecting her personal credit report, Ms. Zhang downloaded the "ZOOM" conference software according to the other party's requirements and conducted "screen sharing", asking the other party to guide her in canceling her account. After some operation, Ms. Zhang received a text message stating that over 1.63 million yuan had been deducted from her bank card. She panicked and immediately questioned customer service. The other party provided a so-called "China Banking Regulatory Commission certified account", stating that this account can not only help to terminate electronic agreements with loan platforms, but also refund money.

The so-called "authenticated account" sent by scammers

Ms. Zhang once again listened to the other party and prepared to enter a set of 6-digit "verification codes", but unexpectedly switched to "transfer amount". Ms. Zhang realized something was wrong, so she hung up the other person's phone and called "110" to report the incident. The police have initiated an emergency freeze and payment suspension procedure. The bank staff found that Ms. Zhang's current deposit of over 1.63 million yuan was actually transferred to her fixed account by a scammer, but it was not transferred. For security reasons, Ms. Zhang reset her payment password and online banking login password.

Ms. Zhang received information about her bank card being deducted

The Minhang Public Security Bureau also disclosed relevant cases. Mr. Xu, a citizen, received a video call from a stranger named FaceTime, who claimed to be a payment platform staff member and claimed that Mr. Xu had personal credit issues and needed to cancel his loan channel. Subsequently, the other party requested Mr. Xu to transfer the deposit in his bank card to a designated account under the pretext of protecting fund security. Mr. Xu followed suit and was scammed out of over 6000 yuan.

In these two scams, the fraudsters still used traditional methods of impersonating customer service. What is confusing is that some victims were asked to "share screens", which may lead to the leakage of account, password, and other information. "FaceTime was used by scammers as a tool to contact victims, but the scam method was still impersonating customer service." Anti fraud police told reporters that the key to prevention is not to "share screens", not to disclose personal bank account information, and not to transfer funds.

Security risks associated with video recording storage

A cybersecurity expert told reporters that it is "completely unnecessary" for netizens to panic about receiving FaceTime calls causing their phones to be locked, account information to be stolen, and affecting financial security.

In the eyes of industry insiders, a locked phone is generally due to the leakage of an Apple ID password. "From a technical perspective, it is almost impossible to obtain the other party's Apple ID for account theft by calling FaceTime. More often than not, the victim is guided by scammers and voluntarily leaks information such as account passwords."

FaceTime videos can be simply understood as video calls, which do not consume phone fees and use traffic. Unlike QQ Video and WeChat Video, which can only be initiated by friends, FaceTime Video allows strangers to initiate requests, making it more likely to be used to initiate spam harassment.

More security risks do exist. Industry insiders point out that in addition to spam messages, Apple phone users may receive FaceTime video requests from strangers, and the video footage may be recorded by the other party. "If the other party uses the intercepted video in other places, such as combining AI facial recognition technology to impersonate the host's identity and deceive family and friends, it may pose other security risks."

In fact, there have been cases in recent years where criminals use video recordings to impersonate acquaintances and engage in fraud. The anti fraud police stated that the act of illegally obtaining facial screenshots, video recordings, and other information of Apple phone users through FaceTime calls, and subsequently engaging in online telecommunications fraud, is suspected of constituting the crime of fraud.

In response to recent suspected fraudulent phone calls using FaceTime, the city's anti fraud center also reminds strangers not to answer their FaceTime calls. If not needed, the FaceTime function can be disabled by setting it up.

Apple phones can disable FaceTime function by setting it to

Harassment information governance needs to form a joint force

The reporter noticed that many netizens "roast" that FaceTime video calls are often used to push advertising information and are often harassed in work and life.

This is not only a problem with FaceTime, but also various harassing phone calls aimed at sales or fraud that plague everyone's lives and are repeatedly banned. In order to address harassment information, China has successively introduced relevant laws and regulations, but still faces difficulties in law enforcement.

The Civil Code clearly stipulates that, except as otherwise provided by law or with the explicit consent of the rights holder, no organization or individual shall use telephone, SMS, instant messaging tools, email, flyers or other means to disturb the private life and peace of others. In 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and 12 other departments issued the "Special Action Plan for Comprehensive Rectification of Harassment Telephone Calls", organizing a one-year and a half long comprehensive crackdown on harassment telephone calls nationwide, and timely transitioning to normalized governance.

However, due to the technological power of harassing phone calls, some new forms have emerged, and some companies or individuals can still engage in marketing, fraud and other activities through this channel.

In the view of industry insiders, the management of harassing phone calls has entered a "deep water zone". The existing practice of relying solely on controlling communication channels is difficult to achieve further significant results, and there is an urgent need to innovate management methods and promote source control.

"Harassment phone calls involve a wide range of industries and multiple links, and governance is a complex system engineering." The above-mentioned person stated that the coordination of relevant parties to form a full process supervision is necessary to completely cut off the chain of harassment phone calls. For example, telecommunications companies strengthen communication resource and user management to prevent various communication resources from being used for telephone interference to the public; Technically, it is necessary to strengthen the traceability ability of the calling number and provide risk warnings for harassing calls. "Gathering governance efforts is necessary to effectively cut off and intercept harassing calls at the source, and also help prevent the occurrence of telecommunications network fraud."