The Sarahah app has become a phenomenon in social media circles as the most-downloaded app in the last two months. So far, 7.2 million users have reportedly signed up for the app in India alone, as the craze for receiving anonymous love or hate messages reaches unprecedented heights in the history of messaging apps.
Although the Sarahah app is targeted at self development, unsuspecting users have fallen prey to a big scam surrounding the app in their quest to find the messages' original source and the senders' info.
In a bid to exploit the popularity of the app, some scammers have been hoodwinking users into clicking or opening the message that reads: "Announcement: A lot of people have been asking for a site to reveal anonymous senders. Now here you have it at www.sarahahexposed.com."
All such deceptive messages have now been confirmed as hoax — circulating with the sole intent of making money through a click-bait link that leads to a fake website named 'Sarahah Spyer'. Here's how the click-bait scam works:
- You are sent a deceptively attractive message that promises to disclose the true identity of Sarahah message senders.
- When you open the message, you are redirected to a website filled with fake comments.
- Then you find a column prompting you to enter your username, and then get the option: "Find Sender." The moment you click this option, you are asked to do a simple favour by filling out a survey form with just a couple of questions.
- At the end of the survey, you will not see the identity of who sent you the deceptive message. However, the website operators earn money for every entry you make and every survey form you fill.
It must be noted that the Sarahah app was designed to send and receive messages anonymously without revealing anyone's personal identity. The app encrypts all personal details. However, the scam ensures that you unknowingly give away your username to scammers and also ensure them some earnign by filling out survey forms.
Remember the popular adage "Look before you leap," because you do not know where you will end up in your quest to find the sender of a Sarahah message. You are not only helping generate revenue for a fake website, but also opening up a backdoor entry for scammers to collect your personal details in the name of a survey form.
Like it or not, the Sarahah app does not let anyone find the origin of a message, because that's the unique selling point of the app. However, you could delete the app to stop receiving such fake messages in future and avoid being victimised by scammers.
