WhatsApp scams are more common than many people realize. There are many types of scams and rip-offs on WhatsApp, and most often have one goal: to trick the victim into giving them their personal information, bank details, or to steal your WhatsApp accountand thus be able to steal your identity.
This is the case of Joël, victim of a scam in Lleida which led to theft of almost 6,000 dollarsThis happened last February and, after multiple complaints from the victims, the Mossos have already managed to identify the perpetrator of the scam, who is in Madrid.
One of the main WhatsApp scams: “Can you send me the code you received?”
As we mentioned earlier, one of the most common WhatsApp scams involves trying to steal victims’ WhatsApp accounts, because by accessing their account Criminals can pretend to be the victimpretending to be them to ask for money from their contacts and scam them, and even to try to access the accounts of other contacts.
Joel says he received a message from his father’s neighbor, asking for the code he had received on his cell phone. The neighbor’s alleged reason was that the code would allow them to access the minutes of the neighborhood meeting, and since his father was admitted to the hospital, she would take charge of obtaining the minutes for them. Joel agreed to send the code, and He was immediately banned from his WhatsApp account.
Of course, the code he received was not from any minute ago, but the verification code whatsapp send to be able to access your account on a new mobile. After stealing his account, the attacker began asking his contacts for money via Bizum, some even sending hundreds of dollars. The criminal managed to steal almost 6,000 dollars from his contacts.
Criminals often try to obtain WhatsApp verification code by deception, steal victims’ WhatsApp account and then scam their contacts.
Joel claims that a few hours after losing access to his WhatsApp, he started receiving messages via Instagram from his contacts asking if he had yet received the money they had sent him, which is how he discovered the scam he had been a victim of.
The Lleida resident explains that the fraudulent message would have been sent to the entire building, receiving around 130 people. The Mossos have so far received two additional complaints. In addition, They have already located and identified the alleged perpetrator of the scam.who is in Madrid.
How to prevent your WhatsApp account from being stolen
Follow these steps on your WhatsApp account to add more protection to your account.
The messaging platform has many security measures to protect our accounts, but as seen in the previous case, attackers mainly They try to trick users into unknowingly handing over their account login details.. However, even in this way we can protect ourselves with two-step verification.
WhatsApp offers us the possibility of using a second identification method, independent of the code that the company sends when we try to log in on a new device. We can activate this method from the Settings menu of the application, in the Account section.
Then, we will create a six-digit code that we will have to enter every time we log in to WhatsApp on a new mobile phone. Therefore, even if attackers and fraudsters obtain the verification code, You will need this second code to be able to access our WhatsAppwhich represents an additional protective barrier for our account.
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