One of the most used personal chat applications, WhatsApp is used by billions. And the latest scam regarding WhatsApp includes a hacker claiming to be your friend and asking you for the OTP he/she has sent to your phone number. In simple terms, a new type of scam message is now doing the round which hacks your friend account and sends you personalised messages.
What is WhatsApp OTP Scam?
In the WhatsApp OTP scam, the hacker sends you a message claiming to be your friend. To grab your immediate attention, the fraudster describes some kind of emergency.
After assuring of being your friend, the hacker will ask for an OTP, who the scamster describes as an accidental forward. The scammers will send multiple messages to lure you to forward the OTP.
The hacker wants to access your WhatsApp account through OTP validation. The moment you will share the OTP with the fraudster, you will be locked out of your WhatsApp account and the hacker will have full access to your messages, contacts, and groups.
The hacker may also request monetary help from your dear ones. The chain of events gets multiplied once the scammer hacks into your account.
Things you must be aware of to prevent the hacking:
The two ways in which you can prevent the hacker to get access to your account include verifying that if the person is your friend or just a scamster. And the second way includes turning ON two-step verification for your WhatsApp account, after enabling which, WhatsApp will ask you for an additional 6-digit PIN after you log in to your account.
To enable two-step verification, follow the steps below:
- Open WhatsApp Settings.
- Tap Account > Two-step verification > Enable.
- Enter a six-digit PIN of your choice and confirm it.
- Provide an email address you can access or tap Skip if you don’t want to add an email address. WhatsApp recommends adding an email address as this allows you to reset two-step verification and helps safeguard your account.
- Tap Next.
- Confirm the email address and tap Save or Done.
