Everything a hacker can do if they steal your WhatsApp account

WhatsApp scams are growing at an alarming rate. Although there is no official data, why It is a crime that is rarely reported., word of mouth offers a taste of what is happening these days. Those who have not yet suffered a attempt to steal your WhatsApp account, at least they know someone who has been a victim. Also, for the first time, two weeks ago the Ministry of Security of the Nation published on its social networks tips to avoid falling into the traps via WhatsApp.

But why are computer scams now from WhatsApp? “Unlike the post, which you can answer tomorrow, WhatsApp tends to instantaneity. Get notified and feel you need to respond now. At least see it. According to the studies we have done, 80% of Argentines say 99% of their communication is via WhatsApp and 24% of Argentine men say they do three things when they turn on their phone in the morning and when they turn it off, before go to sleep: look at the amount of battery left on the phone and the notifications of Instagram and WhatsApp “, begins Gabriel Zurdo, of the company BTR Consulting”, begins Gabriel Zurdo, of the company BTR Consulting Gabriele Leftyby the company BTR Consulting.

“These numbers and experience show us that before the post on the PC (typical of scams years ago) there is a more thoughtful consumption. Now with the mobile, everything is already there and there is no more time to think”Continues Lefty.

The most common way for a criminal to steal via WhatsApp is usurping someone else’s account. They have several ways to do this and they all have a common denominator: having the victim send the verification code that WhatsApp sends every time they change their mobile phone.

A deceptive message is circulating these days that says “your turn for the fourth dose of the vaccine coronavirus “and adds a link through which the shift must be confirmed. By clicking there, the victim receives a six-digit “code” to complete the alleged process. But those six digits are actually WhatsApp’s verification step to set up the account on another device.

With that code, cyber crooks hijack the WhatsApp account. Already with the app on another phone, the criminals start sending messages to the contact list citing an urgent situation for which They need an immediate money transfer.

There are other hook messages, such as invitations to vip parties or concerts. In all cases, the attacker’s goal is for the victim to send him the six digits of the code that WhatsApp will send him. You should simply never share it with anyone.

It is called another way “false delivery”where they pose as the customer service of a home ordering app, and there, after a wise chat, they ask to validate the payment details: or to provide them with credit card numbers.

There is also the “secretarial robbery”, where you receive a phone call. The chat begins, and while the line is busy, another person calls WhatsApp and asks for the busy number code, which reaches the victim, but since she is talking, she enters his voicemail. Then the attackers try to enter the mailbox from their mobile, which is not very difficult, because most of them no longer use it and have it without a password.

The most direct way to steal is when you receive a message from an unknown phone number, but with the avatar image of one of the usual contacts. “Change the number, I’m Marcelo …”. Many believe it and the scam begins.

But how do they choose the victims? “The phone numbers that WhatsApp uses to identify people are easy to obtain. Most people don’t consider them a secret, so they can be made available on their social media profiles and sent to different services and then sold for marketing purposes or it can be part of database leakssold on the darknet, ”explains Luis Corrons, an expert at security company Avast.

Also, “when an existing WhatsApp account is used on a new device, the group chats that phone number belongs to are transferred to the new phone. Messages that were previously sent in the group chat are not displayed, but the phone numbers of the other group members are visiblewhich is probably how hackers choose their victims, ”adds Corrons.

How to protect a WhatsApp account

“The only way for people to protect themselves from this scam is to know in advance that it exists. It is also essential to remember this. We should never share private informationactivation codes of any kind via telephone, text message or e-mail “, explains Fabio Assolini, senior security analyst at Kaspersky in Latin America. Furthermore, you should not even share it with acquaintances, because behind the story of an acquaintance there could be another person.

Another important fact: activate the six-digit WhatsApp account validation security code via SMS and not verbally.

The most important thing today. Enable two-step verification. This is a second barrier to hackers. In the event of an attempted theft, when you intend to enable the WhatsApp account on another mobile phone, the system will ask for the usual six-digit verification code. But if the user has activated the second step, this second password will also be requested when changing the device.

How do i activate 2-Step Verification? In WhatsApp, you must first go to Settings. then play Invoice, Two-step verification Y Activate. There you have to enter another six-digit PIN and confirm it.

The app offers the option to provide an email address. You can touch Jump if you don’t want to add this address. However, they do recommend adding an email address as it allows you to reset two-step verification and helps protect your account.

So you have to select Following and confirm the mail e Guardar

WhatsApp: how to recover a stolen account

The victim can try to activate the WhatsApp account on the mobile phone again (requesting a new code via SMS), but it is very likely that the criminals have already activated / modified the double authentication.

“In this casethe victim will not have access to the account for 7 days. The first thing you need to do is send an email to WhatsApp support, asking to block the account. However, this takes about 2-3 days. After locking, WhatsApp will allow the owner to reinstall the app without using the second password (double authentication). But to do this it will take the 7 days I mentioned earlier ”, clarifies Assolini.

Seven days is more than enough for a scammer to contact his WhatsApp contacts, simulating emergency situations, and ask them for money. So if this happensit is convenient to notify contacts by other means.

LC / SL