If you receive a WhatsApp message that appears to be from a friend or family member asking for a large amount of money, you may want to be careful before sending anything. WhatsApp-based scams are increasingly spreading and have already taken hundreds of thousands of dollars out of the pockets of innocent people.
There have been reports of a type of WhatsApp scam that saw an increase in activity in November 2023, The Straits Times reported. This scam involves tricking people into thinking they are receiving a message from someone they love, then asking them for money to resolve a non-existent emergency.
At the start of November 2023 alone, there were 237 reports of victims of this scam, and the scammers made a total of $606,000. Perhaps worse, victims of this scam may not even realize they have been scammed until weeks or months later.
In this new scam, scammers combine two pre-established scams into one: a fake WhatsApp Web Google result and social engineering.
Fake WhatsApp Web Google result
The scam begins when the scammer posts a fake WhatsApp Web page ad on Google. Unfortunately, because scammers can insert fake website clones into Google Search ads, when the victim searches for WhatsApp Web, the scammer’s fake WhatsApp web version can appear at the top.
If someone clicks on this fake WhatsApp Web result, the user is prompted to scan a QR code, just like on the legitimate WhatsApp website. Once the victim scans the fake QR code, the fraudster is given access to their WhatsApp account.
Social engineering phase to withdraw money
Once the fraudster gains access to the victim’s WhatsApp account, they can start messaging the victim’s friends and family. At this point the scammer will come up with a story about why the person needs to send a large amount of money. The prepared justification could be a medical emergency, overdue rent, being the victim of a robbery, or anything else the scammer can think of.
If the person accepts, the scammer tells him to send money to his bank account. While the person he or she is contacting may believe they are helping a friend or family member in distress, they are actually sending money to a scammer.
If the fraudster exits the account quickly enough, neither the person being hacked nor the person sending the money will realize that a fraud has occurred. This fraud may only come to light when the payer brings it up as a topic of conversation later.
Fortunately, the best defense against this scam is knowing it exists. As long as one person in the equation understands how the scam works, they can single-handedly stop the scammer from stealing money.
How can we get rid of WhatsApp Web clones?
The easiest way to avoid WhatsApp Web clones is to avoid downloads altogether by searching the web. Instead of searching for the web page on Google, you can go to web.whatsapp.com and sign in there. While this URL is pretty easy to remember, if you’re worried you might forget it, you can bookmark the website for later.
If you prefer to use a search engine to find WhatsApp Web, make sure you click on the search result rather than an ad. Also check the URL at the bottom of the search result and make sure it points to web.whatsapp.com.
First, pay attention to whether someone you know starts communicating with you in a “weird” way. Their writing style or sentence structure may change, or they may make spelling mistakes that they would not normally make. This can be a good sign that the person you are talking to is not who they say they are. Do not click on any links they send you and never send them money.
If you’re worried that you’re talking to real people who may actually need your help, try contacting them using a method other than WhatsApp. If they really need help, a phone call can clarify the situation and otherwise let them know they are being hacked.
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