Don't fall for WhatsApp Hack!
Desperation is on the rise, the advent of social media, the exposure being created is but a tool that could be used for life-saving purposes or life crushing ones. Sadly, people are finding ways to use this tool the wrong way.
About a month ago, a friend of mine was tricked to give out an OTP (One Time Password) sent to their phone by WhatsApp. This rather good-samaritan deed leads to the smooth handing over of their social media account to criminals, “hackers”. I would argue, these criminals are not hackers but desperate youth employing social engineering to lure unsuspecting victims. WhatsApp is popular in Ghana, the average Ghanaian uses this platform daily, an incentive for criminals to target WhatsApp and extending this scheme to other platforms as well.
How the Scheme Works on WhatsApp
A criminal enters a WhatsApp number to initiate registration of a WhatsApp account, an OTP is sent to the number entered in the registration process for verification. The criminal poses as a victim and lures an unsuspecting individual into giving out the OTP number sent via SMS to the number.
The conversation mostly goes like this:
Criminal: Hello, good morning.
Victim: Hello.
Criminal: Sorry to bother you today, please I was doing a certain registration by mistake, I entered your number during the registration. They’ve sent you a certain pin code, can you kindly call out the pin code for me.
Victim: Erm, Just now? Okay, let me check.
Criminal: Thank you very much, I appreciate it.
[After a couple of minutes, the unsuspecting Victim calls the Criminal]
Victim: Hey, "erm" I’ve got it, the number is 000111.
Criminal: Thank you very much, God bless you. You have saved me. Have a nice day, bye.
Victim: Welcome, Bye [Hangs up]
Once the Criminal has access to the OTP, referred to as "pin code" in the dialogue, keys in the OTP into the registration page, they immediately get hold of the victim's account. Granted contacts, groups and incoming messages that could be compromising. The Fraudster has successfully achieved its goal. Next is to impersonate the Victim online.
These criminals quickly change the phone number associated with the account, eliminating the likelihood of retrieving one's account back. Well, how does one protect oneself from these fraudulent activities, the answer is simple, READ!
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| WhatsApp OTP message Sharing this message could make you unable to access your account. |
Above is an OTP generated from a WhatsApp account registration process and it says “...Don't share this code with others.”
In case you did forget and shared the code anyway, the failsafe that could protect your account only when it's activated is Multiple Factor Authentication, in the case of WhatsApp, Two-Step Verification. Two-Step Verification is an extra layer of shield safeguarding your account, without which, nobody can access your account even if they managed to get hold of the OTP.
How to Protect Your WhatsApp Account
1. Hit the three-dot menu.
2. Tap on Two-Step Verification.
3. Tap on Enable.
4. Input your secret pin.
5. Re-enter your pin on the next page to confirm.
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| Hit three-dot menu |
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| Tap on Two-Step Verification |
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| Tap on Enable |
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| Enter your secret pin |
Thanks ��
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