Fraud on WhatsApp is now increasingly diverse methods. The latest is that scammers pretend to be official WhatsApp accounts to steal users' personal information.
A follower reported to WABetaInfo that they found a suspicious account pretending to be WhatsApp Support. The account was reported because it was found to be a fake account that tried to steal users' personal information.
Some of these fraudulent accounts even use profile photos that have a verification badge in the form of a green check to trick users. But if you look more closely, the green tick is in a position that it shouldn't be.
"When you chat with a verified contact, there is a verified badge placed next to the contact's name on the chat screen and their chat info," wrote WABetaInfo, as quoted by Euronews, Sunday (1/5/2022).
"If you see a verified badge located in a different place, for example, on your profile photo, it means the contact is pretending to be verified, and is trying to trick you."
WABetaInfo said these fraudulent accounts usually carry out social engineering scams to get personal information or money from users.
For example, someone pretends to say that the user's WhatsApp account will be blocked, and the user will have to pay a certain amount of money or provide their credit card information if they want to avoid being blocked.
Fraud accounts like this also often ask for a 6-digit code that is used to log into your WhatsApp account. WABetaInfo emphasized that the original WhatsApp Support account never asked for information about credit cards, 6-digit codes or two-step verification codes.
"WhatsApp doesn't even ask for money or confidential information to avoid account blocking. If someone wants to get this information, it means a fake account trying to trick you," explained WABetaInfo.
If you find a suspicious message from an account pretending to be WhatsApp, WABetaInfo recommends blocking and reporting the account immediately. After being reported, the last five messages sent by the account will be shared with the WhatsApp moderation team so they can understand the context of the conversation and immediately suspend the account.
WhatsApp's official guide also advises against sharing or forwarding chats that look suspicious or are too good to be true. "When you receive a message of this type, we recommend that you report the message, block the sender, and delete the message," WhatsApp wrote.
This warning isn't just for accounts pretending to be WhatsApp. Fraudsters can impersonate anyone, from friends, family, to big businesses like banks and e-commerce. So always be alert if you find a suspicious WhatsApp chat.
