The ease of communicating that WhatsApp offers became a double -edged sword weapon. Although its use extends to a personal, family, work and even educational level, the application is also the target of the criminals, who found in their popularity a new way to cheat the most unsuspecting users.
During the last weeks, social networks in Colombia were filled with testimonies of people who claim to have been contacted by alleged WhatsApp advisors. The calls, which are usually accompanied by false logos and a convincing language, seek to gain the victim’s confidence with a very clear objective, access their account.
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The scammers say they detected a suspicious activity, and that their account is active on other devices. “Good morning, we contacted WhatsApp support and the reason for the call is because we have identified that there are third parties who are trying to link your WhatsApp line to other devices in order to steal your information and contacts, so we receive an alert and contact ourselves to certify that you are the only owner,” is heard in one of the recordings that already circulates on digital platforms.
The dynamics of fraud is simple but effective. The scammer simulates helping the victim to recover his digital safety, but in reality he requests the six -digit authentication code sent by the application itself. With this code, criminals take total account control. Once inside, they write to contacts asking for “borrowing” money, getting through the affected person.
-Although these calls seem legitimate, goal, owner of WhatsApp, was clear, the platform does not make calls or communicate by phone with users. “The Meta instant messaging application does not contact anyone, he has no advisors in charge of calling users and will never ask for verification codes. It is a modality of fraud that has been popularized in recent days. They use their account to request money borrowed in your name,” warned a statement.
The company’s official blog also indicated that the only legitimate way of receiving attention is through its verified account. “If you receive a message that claims to be WhatsApp support, but you do not have the verified account badge or the official support account label, it is likely to be a scam. We ask that, please, do not respond and that reports or blocks the number quickly ”, reads in its official place.
To prevent this type of fraud, WhatsApp enabled new security functions. One of the most recommended is to link an email to support your account. In this way, official notifications will come only from addresses that end in @Support.whatsapp.com, which facilitates the identification of legitimate contacts and avoids confusion with false profiles or impersonations.
In 2024, WhatsApp consolidated its position as the most used messaging app in the world, with more than 2,000 million monthly users, According to the Statita specialized portal. This mass, which allowed to transform global communication, also represents a huge challenge, the greater the scope, the more attractive it becomes for digital crime, which seeks to exploit human and technical vulnerabilities.
Users must remain alert to any uninquented contact attempt. Verify the authenticity of each message, do not share verification codes and activate two steps verification are essential points to protect your digital identity. In addition, it is recommended to maintain the updated application, review the linked devices and share this information with family and friends to prevent them from falling into these increasingly common traps.
