AzerGold warns of fake WhatsApp profiles impersonating its employees

What happened

APA reported on 7 November 2026 that the Azerbaijani gold-mining company AzerGold CJSC warned of fraud attempts involving fake profiles created with the names and photographs of its employees, used to contact people through WhatsApp. AzerGold and its employees are impersonated and are not involved in the messages.

How the scam works

According to the company, unidentified individuals impersonate its employees and send messages and requests in their names. The aim is to deceive people into actions that expose personal and banking information or give unlawful access to their financial assets. Using a real employee's name and photo makes the profile look credible to business partners, job seekers, investors or members of the public who know of the company, and a WhatsApp chat feels more personal than an email.

Schemes of this type often begin with a friendly approach and then move to a request: to open a link, download a document, share identity or bank details, confirm a code sent by SMS, or make a payment for a supposed contract, investment, job or gold purchase. Links and files from unknown sources can lead to phishing pages or install malware, and verification codes can be used to take over the recipient's own WhatsApp or bank account.

AzerGold advises recipients not to respond to suspicious messages, click unfamiliar links, open files from unknown sources or disclose personal, banking or work information, and to verify communications only through previously verified official contact details. It asks anyone who encounters the fake profiles to preserve the correspondence and notify the company and law enforcement.

Source

APA report, 7 November 2026: https://en.apa.az/ict/azergold-cjsc-issues-warning-over-cyber-fraud-attempts-534757