By COLlive reporter
A phone-hacking scam has been making its way around many Whatsapp groups in the past few days, COLlive has learned.
The scam involves a text message which asks you to send a verification code, which seems to be coming from one of your own contacts.
This takes place after a hacker has already gained access to the account of someone in your contacts list. They message you, purporting to be one of your contacts, and all messages appear at first glance to be from the person you expect.
During the conversation with this person, you could then receive a message containing a six digit verification code.
The scammer then pretends that it was sent to you by mistake and asks to be told the code.
If this code is given over to the scammer, they will then have access to your entire WhatsApp account.
The scammers can also gain access to your contacts, by pulling the same scam pretending to be you.
How can you avoid falling victim to this?
Make sure to avoid having too many admins in one group, since if they hack into an admin’s WhatsApp account, they have access to the entire group.
If you are given a six digit verification code and you didn’t request one – be wary. These codes are only sent through when you are making changes to your WhatsApp account.
This code should never be shared with anyone – even if you believe they are a friend or family members.
You could also turn on ‘two-step verification’ on your WhatsApp account.
To do this, simply head to Settings > Account > Two Step Verification > Enable.
This will ensure that your WhatsApp account is also protected by a pin, adding another layer of safety. You will be asked to choose and create a six digit pin.
WhatsApp also offers the option to Provide an email address that you have access to. This will then allow you to reset two-step verification and again help safeguard your account.
Above all keep an eye out for any unusual activity or messages and make your WhatsApp as protected as possible.
Don’t give any code you receive to anyone else!
If you do get hacked, it can take some time, possibly up to a week to get your account back.
Two factor authentication is easy and can save you and your groups lots of headache.
Having many admins on a WhatsApp group does not change anything when it comes to this scam. Yes if you’re an admin and your account is “hacked” the hacker will be able to take over the group, remove or add members, but not more.
Hacking into any account will give the hacker contact numbers from groups even if it’s not an admin
I believe that’s correct. I was wondering what the “Too many admins” thing was about