More than 2 billion people around the world use WhatsApp to communicate, not only with friends and loved ones, but also with colleagues and even with businesses, businesses and customer service of banks and others. So it’s no surprise that there are more and more scams on WhatsApp.
These scams usually start in most (but not all) cases with a message from an unknown number, even with a prefix from another country. These messages can confuse us, because sometimes they give a good impression, or even offer us an advantage (like, for example, a new job or earning “easy money”). But all is not what it seems, Online scam attempts often use these types of messages to try to deceive us.. If an unknown number sent you a text message, we recommend following these steps.
An unknown number sent you a text message on WhatsApp? First of all, keep in mind the following
The first thing we need to keep in mind is that there are different types of scams, frauds and threats through WhatsApp. One of the most common is a supposed job offer which reaches us via the application, usually from a number starting with a prefix of another country. These offers promise hundreds of dollars per month for simple tasks like following social media accounts or subscribing to YouTube channels. In this way They lure potential victims then scam them
We have recently seen the case of messages coming from numbers with the prefix +62 offering work, but in reality they are scams. There are also other types of scams, including so-called investment offers: “just give us 20 dollars and in a month you will have 200 or more.”
But identity theft scams are perhaps the most dangerous in many cases: the person sending the message is pretending to be a family member or friend, asking you for money because they are in trouble and need to solve a problem. The excuse is usually that their cell phone is broken or they are out of battery. And this way they can fool a lot of people.
There are also cases in which fraudsters They pretend to be your bank or other entities, asking for access codes and even passwords and credit card numbers, among other things. Finally, we have a very common scam: a stranger asks you for a six-digit code that was sent to you by mistake, supposedly for this confusing number. . These are usually two-step verification codes. If you send it to them, you could lose access to your WhatsApp account or even to your email
In these cases, cybercriminals, after stealing a WhatsApp account, pretend to be the person whose account they stole. to try to scam your contacts.
The scammer might claim to have sent you a code “by mistake” and ask you for it. If you send them, they could steal your WhatsApp account and extort money from your contacts by pretending to be you.
It is also very important never click on links we receive on WhatsApp from unknown numberseven if they claim to come from our bank or another entity.
As we can see there are many types of scams and frauds on WhatsApp, so every time we receive a message from unknown numbers The first thing we need to do is detect if it is a threat.
There are ways to check if it is a secure message. For example, if a message claims to come from a family member in difficulty, we can directly call this number to try to verify your identityor we can contact someone who can verify it.
If we receive a message from an entity, such as a bank, we may search Google for the official telephone numbers of that entity. However, remember: We should not send sensitive information via WhatsApp.
Unfortunately, in many cases these messages are scam and fraud attempts. we need to do something about this.
If this is a scam attempt, the best we can do is block
If we have detected a threat, a scam attempt on WhatsApp, the best thing we can do is directly report and block this phone number. This won’t stop scammers from creating another WhatsApp account using a different phone number, but at least we’ll make it harder for them to use the same number.
Image: Iván Ramírez (Xataka Móvil)
It is not even necessary to respond to these messages, just it’s not worth wasting time. If you’ve detected a scam attempt, it’s as simple as following the steps below. We have two alternatives:
- In the conversation window with the unknown number, tap the three-dot button in the upper right corner. Then we select “More” and finally “report“. We will have to confirm the declaration action of this account and, in addition, it is advisable to check the box Block.
- From the WhatsApp chat window, we can press and hold our finger on the conversation started by the unknown number. Next we press the three-dot button in the upper right corner and select Block.
As we mentioned, the first option allows, when declaring this account, WhatsApp will remove it if it considers it violates the terms of use demand. This is more likely as more people report and block the account. Finally, after blocking and reporting this account, you can simply delete the chat to clean up your WhatsApp.
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