Warning! There’s an uprising in cases of Whatsapp scams and hacks revolving around stealing personal information recently. You might be wondering how scammers hack Whatsapp or perhaps even Facebook.
Honestly, it is challenging to keep up with scammers latest’s tactics these days. They seem to be highly creative in getting ways to access your hard-earned money.
Recently, local banks have posted warnings a specific Modus Operandi for Whatsapp Scams in Malaysia. Many have fallen into this scam tactic where scammers take over victims’ WhatsApp account by fishing for their six-digit verification codes.
Let’s understand how these scammers work, as they might just come for you next! You’ll never know, right? Better to be safe than sorry.
Understand How These Scammers Work
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) said it has received complaints of scammers hacking into and seizing control of a person’s WhatsApp account in Malaysia.
A six-digit verification code is what the scammers are after. They will think of creative ways to induce users to get access to these codes. Following this, the scammers will take control of your Whatsapp account.
When users attempt to alter the phone number within a WhatsApp account, they will often receive a six-digit verification code.
They can take over an individual’s WhatsApp account, change their identity, and then proceed with scamming.
Fortunately, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been able to identify various scammers’ methods and ploys:
- Using a hijacked WhatsApp account, the scammers would pretend to be friends or family members and ask the victim to provide their six-digit verification code.
- Users are tricked into revealing their six-digit verification code by pretending to be representatives of WhatsApp.
- After numerous unsuccessful verification attempts, the scammers would pretend to be a member of WhatsApp’s staff in order to get a verification code. Or they would request the password or voicemail PIN of a user in order to listen to their recorded voice messages (should the user fail to answer the call)
How to Keep Your Account Safe?
Now that you’ve learned how they operate, here are some methods for protecting your account:
Keep Your Verification Code Private.
There’s no way around that; it’s the most critical thing to keep in mind. It’s important to be aware that any time you receive a verification code, someone is attempting to gain access to your account. A red carpet to your account hacking is the last thing you want to do.
When a Friend or Family Member asks for Help, be Wary.
There is no need for you to provide a verification code to your bestie or your father, as they are not resetting their passwords.
Upgrade your Whatsapp Security.
There is a built-in two-step verification security feature in WhatsApp, and we strongly recommend that you enable it. To enable two-step verification, go to Settings > Account > Two-step verification > Enable on your WhatsApp account page. Your WhatsApp account will be a little more secure if you follow the steps displayed on the screen.
Frequently Reset your PIN or password.
Also, don’t make it simple for someone to guess your password or voicemail PIN. Changing your PIN or password to something other than your birth date, your IC number, or 123456 is highly recommended.
We should feel a little more secure and vigilant about safeguarding our Whatsapp accounts now that we know how scammers hack Whatsapp and how to prevent it. Nonetheless, scammers are incredibly clever and may develop other ways to obtain your personal information.
The general rule of thumb is to never share your personal passwords, verification codes, or similar information with anyone.
Do you know of any new scams? Please leave them in the comments section below for others to be aware of!
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Source: The Star
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