Beware! This Trick Can Easily Hack Your WhatsApp
This year in April there was a WhatsApp vulnerability that was letting bad actors hijack your account with the help of your phone numbers and could take a look at your screen. Hackers were also trying to figure out about you through family and friends' accounts by asking you to share a verification code.
In the second case, these hackers would pretend to be like your family member or friends and act as if they lost access to their account. Then you would be informed that they are going to use your contact to reactivate their account and ask to share a verification code you have received. If you share your code, you would straightaway lose access to your own WhatsApp account.
Scammers were using your phone number to log into WhatsApp from another mobile. If you have already signed in to your account on one device and try to sign in to another, WhatsApp will send you a verification code to verify, as your account is linked to your number, not your device. Scammers were actually convincing people to share these codes with them. Once the verification code is shared, they would log into your Whatsapp account using your number.
There were many warnings about this scam, and now it seems that hackers have developed their modus operandi and now they don't even need to know your phone number.
Pretending as WhatsApp's Support Team, hackers are sending messages to WhatsApp users informing them that they have noticed someone else trying to register a WhatsApp account using your number. Then the message says that you have been sent an identification request through SMS.
WhatsApp's two-factor-authentication (2FA) make use of a six-digit code that is sent to the user's account for verification that the owner has opted for a new number or changing the handset. Immediately this 2FA is displayed on the screen by default the moment it is sent. So if anyone can look at your display, they can see the code and easily steal your account.
The new change in the scam doesn't even need someone to look at your screen since they are convincing you to hand over the code yourself. To be noted, the message also adds that if you do not verify, your account will be indefinitely suspended.