A criminal who appears on WhatsApp as a famous one with a new song knows everyone. WhatsApp hijacking goes a step further.
This is WhatsApp hijacking
That well-known form of WhatsApp fraud is known as Friend-in-emergence. You will then receive a WhatsApp message from an unknown number, but it seems to be rid of a friend or family member. Often criminals have achieved a profile photo of social media.
With WhatsApp hijacking, a criminal hacking your WhatsApp account in order to make someone out of your contact list in an even more credible way. WhatsApp has a function with which you can transfer your WhatsApp data to a new telephone number, and use that function to gain access to your account.
That’s how it works
A criminal has your telephone number. He installs WhatsApp and indicates that he wants to transfer WhatsApp data using a verification code. He then does not give up his own number, but your song. And you get a verification code on your phone out of the blue. At the same time you will receive a message from the criminal.
He says he accidentally had a verification code sent to you and asks if you want to send that code. When you do that, the criminal gets access to all your WhatsApp data, including profile photo, chats and group chats. Your contact persons only see an automatic message in the chat that your telephone number has changed.
The criminal can now ask all your contacts for money, or use their numbers to request verification codes. When the first victim is inside, lighting the contact persons becomes a lot easier. He approaches them with the name, the profile photo and even the song of someone they really know. This naturally makes fraud much more credible.
This way you prevent WhatsApp hijacking
All you have to do to prevent this is never or never forward a verification code to anyone. And certainly not when a stranger asks you this. Verification codes can almost always be requested again, so it is nonsense that you should forward such a code.
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