WhatsApp Account Takeover Scam

City of London Police Action Fraud has received over 60 reports relating to a scam that steals access to a victim’s WhatsApp account.

The scam begins when a criminal gets access to another WhatsApp account which has you listed as a contact. The criminal, posing as your friend or someone that’s a member of a WhatsApp group you’re in, will then send you seemingly normal messages to try and start a conversation with you. However, around the same time you will receive a text message from WhatsApp with a six-digit code. This is because the criminal has been trying to login to WhatsApp using your mobile number. The criminal will claim that they sent you their code by accident and ask you to help them by sending it to them. Once the criminal has this code, they can login to your WhatsApp account and lock you out.

The criminal will then use the same tactic with your WhatsApp contacts in an effort to steal more accounts and use them to perpetrate fraud.

Download the full report here.