LINE users are wary of "Help to vote" scams: the risk of account theft has escalated
Quick Look
- Many recent LINE account theft incidents are due to "help to vote" scams, especially voting in painting competitions.
- The fraud group uses fake websites to defraud SMS verification codes to steal accounts.
- LINE officials have issued warnings and provided protection suggestions, including not entering verification codes, completing account binding and enabling suspicious website detection functions.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Recently, there have been frequent cases of LINE user accounts being stolen. Most of the scams use "help to vote" as a bait, especially for voting in drawing competitions, and take advantage of users' good intentions to help others to enter fake websites to defraud verification codes.
LINE users must not fall for the "help you vote" scam. (Picture/Drawing by this newspaper)
Recently, a large number of LINE user accounts have been stolen, and almost all of them fell into the "help to vote" scam. Among them, "voting in the painting competition" is the most common. Once misunderstood, the LINE account was directly stolen, which is quite frustrating.
Many victimized netizens posted reminders on Threads, "My LINE has been stolen. If you receive any messages from me to 'help vote', borrow money, or ask for verification codes, please do not click on them. They are scams."
Please read on...
Many LINE users had their accounts stolen because they helped vote. (Picture/Photo taken from the Internet)
Don’t give out the authentication code randomly
In fact, LINE officials have recently issued a warning that many scams have recently been packaged under names such as "children's drawing voting" to induce users to enter fake LINE phishing websites, and then require them to enter a LINE SMS authentication code to steal their accounts.
LINE reminds you that the verification code will only be used when you register a new account, change your phone or mobile account. Whenever a stranger or website asks for a LINE verification code, you must be extremely vigilant and never provide it to avoid your account falling directly into the hands of a fraud group.
Hurry and complete account binding
In addition, in order to reduce the risk of accounts being stolen and unable to be recovered, LINE also continues to urge users to perform account health checks, including setting up phone numbers, emails, and passwords, and recommends binding at least one of Apple accounts or Google accounts. The more complete the account information is, the greater the chance of re-logging in and recovering the account if the account is stolen in the future.
LINE users can also manually turn on the "Detect suspicious websites" function. After enabling it, whenever a URL that the system determines may be risky appears in the chat room, a "suspicious website warning" will be displayed below the URL to remind users not to click rashly, further reducing the risk of accidentally entering a phishing website.
What should I do if I feel like my LINE account has been stolen?
If you find an abnormal login record or suspect that your account may have been logged in by others, it is recommended to take two measures immediately:
● Change LINE password to "My Account" in settings.
● Turn off "Allow sign in from other devices".
What should I do if my LINE account is "confirmed" to have been stolen?
● Click on LINE immediately and click "Log in again". This is a function that allows you to regain your account by yourself. Special note is that you cannot delete the LINE App and you will not be able to use the "log in again" function.
● Contact customer service: If you are no longer able to use the "log in again" function and cannot log in to your LINE account, you can contact customer service (report URL click here).
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What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
LINE will continue to issue anti-fraud warnings through official channels and may launch a more stringent verification mechanism.
Likely · Within weeks
Open Questions
- Which region or country does the fraud group come from specifically?
- Are stolen accounts often used for secondary fraud?
- Does LINE plan to further upgrade its security mechanism to prevent such attacks?
