The Consumer Council of Fiji has issued an alert to Fijians after it recently discovered hackers infiltrating Viber accounts and impersonating prominent education figures requesting for funds to be deposited to their M-PAiSA account.
The council said in one instance the Viber account of the general secretary of the Fiji Teachers Union, Muniappa Goundar, was hacked and messages were sent to members of the education community requesting for funds.
In another incident, an assistant principal received a call, purportedly from an educational institution, claiming to have sent him important information.
He was asked to click on a link sent via text messages, which ultimately led to the hacking of his Viber.
Council CEO Seema Shandil advised consumers to make a normal cellular call to the individual in question before transferring any money to ensure the legitimacy of their identity.
“It is alarming to see the evolution of these fraudulent impersonation schemes,” Ms Shandil said.
“We urge all teachers and individuals in the education sector to exercise extreme caution and verify the identity of those requesting financial assistance.
“Consumers are also reminded to urgently switch-on two-factor authentication for their Viber app to reduce vulnerability to such hacking.”
