What can happen and what to do if your WhatsApp number is leaked due to a hack

In the hyper-connected age we live in, our cell phones, phone numbers, and social media accounts are a major source of very juicy personal data for cybercriminals. Y Whatsapp It is one of the most common attack vectors.

In fact, companies are also very vulnerable to attacks. Your insurance company, your phone company, the dealership where you bought your car. All of them have your information in their databases. When large-scale attacks on individual companies occur, all data falls into the hands of cybercriminals.

It’s much more common than many people think your phone number or WhatsApp account leaked due to a hack. This can be a minor inconvenience if we take the proper precautions, but otherwise the consequences can be very dangerous.

Criminals have an interest in obtaining the contact details of their victims in order to commit the main robberies that take place on the net. Among them, the most common through WhatsApp are the smishing and vishing.

The first is by receiving a fraudulent text message in which the criminals impersonate an official body or company. Its modus operandi is to encourage the victim to provide confidential information or to have them access a link from a fake website. In short, the goal is to get the user’s passwords or bank details.

Vishing, for its part, is very similar, only that instead of a text message, you receive a phone call where the criminals pose as the operator of a business or company. Likewise, they ask the victim for bank details or passwords.

Another possible scam away Whatsapp and this supplant your account and impersonate yourself to extort money from your contacts or blackmail the victim himself. They could also impersonate another contact by impersonating their account and try to trick you, such as by asking you to lend them money.

What to do if your WhatsApp number is leaked

First, we must sharpen our skepticism and not trust all those communications that we are suspicious.

Never give out confidential information such as passwords or bank details without being sure if it is an official channel or accessing unreliable links. If a contact asks you for money on WhatsApp, it is best to ask them to talk on the phone or even see you to be sure it’s really that person.

If you believe your account has been hacked, you should contact the messaging application’s technical support immediately. WhatsApp will send you a verification code which you shouldn’t share with anyone. Even if you are the victim of a computer scam you should report it to the authorities.

Also, it is convenient to activate the two-step verification of the account, to make it more difficult for cybercriminals to gain access.

Another recommendation is to enable a code or facial or fingerprint recognition, not only in the mobile terminal, but also in the app itself.

With information from La Vanguardia