WhatsApp makes it a lot easier to keep in touch with our loved ones. But unfortunately, this smartphone app also attracts malicious parties, at home and abroad. What can you do if you receive a message or phone call via WhatsApp from a stranger who you do not trust?
What if your phone number is leaked?
Normally only friends, relatives and other acquaintances know your telephone number. But perhaps you are a self-employed entrepreneur and you use a business 06 number that is visible to everyone? Or maybe you are unlucky enough that your number ends up in a data breach, which you can read more about via MAX Meldpunt. A stranger can then forward messages with disinformation or pretend to be one of your children. If this stranger forwards a link or another document, be extra careful and do not click on it.
Also read: Digitip: spam and phishing; what is the difference?
Spam via WhatsApp phone calls
For a few years now you have also been able to make telephone calls via WhatsApp. In recent years, there have been increasing reports of spam calls made via foreign numbers, especially from India (country code + 91). If you see a missed call in the call list from someone you don’t know (from a country where you don’t know anyone anyway), don’t call back.
Because the caller may be attempting to do so fraudsters. Loosely translated from Japanese, wangiri means ‘1 ring’. This means that the caller ensures that you miss the call. And that you call back yourself after that missed call. But then you call an expensive foreign number, while a tape is playing. If you don’t disconnect quickly, you could end up with a high bill.
Also read: Called by an unknown 06 number? This is how you find out who that was
Block, report and auto-deny
It can also happen that someone with a foreign number suddenly adds you to a group conversation with 100 other strangers. It is best to leave this conversation immediately. Fortunately, WhatsApp offers the option to block unknown telephone numbers, as you can read in these Digitips. You can report the sender via the same menu via the app, so that WhatsApp knows it is spam and can take action.
If someone calls you via WhatsApp, you can also block and report them. Make sure you tap the profile photo via the touch screen, so that you do not accidentally call back. Finally, WhatsApp will have a new feature in the course of 2023. You can automatically reject phone calls from unknown numbers via the settings menu and the ‘Calls’ option.
Also read: New features in WhatsApp: save audio messages in video form, extra keyboard and expiration messages
Where do spam phone calls via WhatsApp come from?
Unless you have acquaintances in India, a call from a number with +91 is almost always a reason to be extra vigilant. But suspicious WhatsApp calls can come from anywhere in the world, including the United Kingdom (country code +44) for example. Other examples of these types of spam calls come from the United States (+1, with additional country code per state), Indonesia (+62) or Chad (+235). In addition, be extra careful on numbers with the number 88 in them. A business number that starts with 088 comes from a landline in the Netherlands. But +880 is the country code of Bangladesh, while expensive satellite telephone lines often start with +88.
(Source: Archive, MAX Meldpunt, Bright, Margriet, SeniorWeb, Radar, KPN, Landnummers.info. Photo: Ink Drop/Shutterstock)
2023-09-18 04:02:50
#Called #unknown #foreign #number #WhatsApp
