Among the largest dangers on the web it definitely is there identity theft which, of course, increasingly passes through those commonly used applications WhatsApp.
In fact, in recent days, those have forcefully returned to the scene text message that digital attackers use for scam unsuspecting usersstealing their account and identity.
A serious threat and very dangerous that is already spreading like wildfire, let’s find out more about it and see how to keep your device safe from hacker attacks.
How the WhatsApp scam works
In the last few days alone, there have been thousands of reports of users who have had their accounts stolen with this “simple” trick.
Paradoxically, the scam is very simple and it all starts with a message on WhatsApp which, only apparently, comes from one of ours contacts in the address book.
The above message asks for a code received via SMS which comes directly from WhatsApp, the excuses for asking for this information are always more or less the same and the outcome does not change either: once the requested information has been sent, the contact “disappears” into thin air and with it also our WhatsApp account and everything what it contains, including i contacts.
It only takes a few minutes and with this move the digital attackers will be able to get their hands on the chatthe Photoi documentsThe audio and everything that has been shared in various conversations on the platform, including groups.
A rather unpleasant situation, clearly, and one violation of privacy which could lead to very serious consequences.
The infection is so rapid and so widespread that distinguishing one of our contacts from an “infected” one is really very complicated, furthermore the spread of this virus is so fast that it could potentially infect thousands of devices in a very short time.
How to protect yourself from viruses on WhatsApp
Of course, once your account is compromisedthere is very little to do other than try to notify your contacts in time, we must necessarily turn to the authorities who cannot do much when the damage has already been done.
On their part it is the WhatsApp team That the Postal Police they are already aware of this problem and are trying to intervene stop these cybercriminals but, clearly, it is not a simple thing, much less immediate.
At the moment therefore, the only remedy to avoid being “infected” by this virus is to use a little common sense and not to believe those messages that make strange requests (such as sending the codes above) or that they send suspicious links.
When this happens, it is first and foremost good ignore and delete such messages and then report the problem to the account owner who may still be in the dark about everything.
However, despite the rather high level of risk, the advice of the cyber security experts is always that of pay attention and to use a bit of common sense which, in general, should always be normal when using such technologies and when browsing the web.
