Three tools against scammers that every smartphone owner should have

In today’s reality, the failure to use the means of mobile security meaning antivirus and caller ID puts your phone at considerable risk. Especially if you actively surf the Internet and install new applications. An accidental click on a banner, following a link sent to you, downloading a file from a suspicious place or installing an application which is not what it promised – each of these cases, if you do not have a security program installed, your phone may get infected with a virus, and, as a result, you may lose personal data, money on your account and compromise the cards bound to the mobile bank. How to protect yourself – tell the experts of the Center of digital expertise of Roskachevo.

A TelecomDaily poll shows that many Americans have a negative attitude toward mobile security tools. Almost one third of all respondents in America think that there is no point in such programs, because they cannot help prevent fraud. Meanwhile, 98% of cell phone owners have come across phonecracks and a simple caller ID would help the 12% who lost money because of it.

Of course, not all mobile protectors are equally useful and caution should also be exercised when using them. What security features are available for cell phones?

Mobile antiviruses

It is especially important to install an antivirus for those whose device runs on an Android platform, because iPhone owners are a little bit more protected. When choosing an antivirus app for your phone, you need to make sure that you download a real antivirus from the real store, not a pirated copy, which itself may be infected. Good antivirus will be able to detect fraudulent sites, will not let you download a dangerous file or follow an untrustworthy link. It’s vigilant where you don’t see the danger.

Mobile Caller Identifiers

They can detect a cheater on the rise and protect you from contact with the criminal. Roskachestvo examined apps in this category at the end of 2020. 80 apps from the Google Play store were tested for security, including those that ranked last on the list of apps. The most common problem identified was intrusive advertising, but I also met a fraudulent program disguised as caller ID. Almost half of apps request access to display information on top of all windows, which means that advertising banners pop up also after the end of the call.

Thus, although this category of applications is very relevant in the era of mass fraud, you need to be very careful: download applications only from official stores App Store, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery , pay attention to user reviews and app scores, give preference to identifiers from well-known developers and pay attention to access requests during installation.

And still remember that scammers know how to spoof numbers, and even if the caller ID reads a call as safe, for example, from the bank, there may be a scammer on the other end of the line.

Mobile ad blockers

On the one hand, these apps help get rid of intrusive banners and pop-ups on the Internet that annoy users. It’s safer because it eliminates the possibility of accidentally clicking on a potentially malicious site. But mobile blockers are one of the most commonly spoofed categories of apps, with infostilers or other viruses hiding behind them. Therefore, it is necessary to be highly cautious already at the stage of downloading the application. It is safest to do it from the official website of the developer.

Sergey Bodrov, head of Roskachevo Digital Expertise Center

“Today, the most reliable protection against cyberattacks is digital literacy of the user. We all know how in one call a scammer can use social engineering to lure a victim’s personal data and payment information and leave them penniless. But like any mobile app, your cybersecurity knowledge needs to be updated regularly.”.