For several years they have been producing continued attempts to rob bank accounts WhatsApp using a strategy simple but effective: every so often we see how several users of the popular instant messaging application receive messages requesting a 6-digit code. Since one of these campaigns has recently started, ESET, a pioneer company in antivirus protection and an expert in cybersecurity, explains how the attempted fraud works, in addition to revealing the main tips to prevent our account from being stolen WhatsApp.
How WhatsApp Account Theft Attempts Happen
Many may have recently received a message from one of their contacts indicating that a message has been sent. SMS with a 6-digit code by mistake. This is due to Someone is trying to get hold of the account WhatsApp and for this you need to get the code that is sent to confirm activation with the phone number used in the account registration.
The main reason so many people fall into this trap is that the person sending this message is someone you know who has had their account stolen previously and is being used to try to do the same with their contacts, with a message similar to the one we see below:
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Unfortunately, not a few users fall into this trap, as has been observed in recent days. That is because criminals are aware that their victims trust their contacts and many of them see no reason to suspect such a message, if the sender is a trusted person.
The problem is that if we listen to the request to send the code received by SMS and send it to who we think is our contact, we will be giving you the opportunity to control our account WhatsApp and supplant our identity in this messaging service, and when we try to access our account we will be shown the following notice:
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- Left6: There is no advertising configuration for the requested slot
This occurs because there can only be one device using an account WhatsApp registered to a phone number. For practical purposes, we will no longer be able to access our account and criminals will have all our conversations and contacts at their disposal to continue trying to steal accounts, send malicious links or attachments, or launch targeted attacks on one of our contacts posing as us to provide confidential information.
Tips for avoiding account theft and trying to get them back
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Given this scenario, and seeing the insistence of criminals on the theft of bank accounts WhatsApp, for some years it is important that we learn to protect what, for many, is the most important application they have installed on their smartphone.
The main point is also the most obvious, and it would be ignore these types of messages no matter how much they come from friends, acquaintances or family, always trying to verify with a call if that person has voluntarily sent the message and, if this is not the case, notify them that their account has been compromised.
Precisely, to avoid this type of incident, WhatsApp long ago included the ability to protect our account with a two-step verification. Thus, even if they manage to steal our account with a method like the one ESET just explained, They will not be able to access our conversations and contacts, nor will they be able to write messages on our behalf.
In this sense, ESET has prepared a video-tutorial How to activate two-step verification: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTRS33xfM3E
However, it is likely that we have been victims of this theft of accounts of WhatsApp or we know someone who has suffered. Then, some users have been able to recover their account by requesting a new verification code and entering it before the criminals noticed. But nevertheless, in most cases it will be necessary to contact the support of WhatsApp and send them an email with the phrase “Phone stolen / lost: Please deactivate my account” attaching the telephone number including the international code of the country, which in the case of Spain is +34.
Once this procedure is completed, the account will be deactivated so that criminals cannot access it, and they are given 30 days to try to recover it by requesting the recovery code and entering it before the criminals.
Josep Albors, director of research and awareness of ESET Spain, has stated that “It is important to remain alert to all those messages that are out of the ordinary or that we are not waiting, whether they come from well-known people or companies. Criminals know that we let our guard down when the sender is trustworthy and they try to take advantage of it. For this reason, when faced with these types of messages, the best thing is to contact the person who supposedly sent it first to confirm that it is something legitimate and thus avoid greater evils “.
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