Hacking of whatsapp by cyber fraudsters who demand money from contacts after accessing them through phishing code was on the rise, police said.
Recently, a Group-I officer woke up to a flurry of whatsapp calls in the morning hours from his friends and other contacts whether he required any money from them for any emergency purposes. Then only he realised that the whatsapp on his mobile phone was hacked by unknown persons for demanding money fraudulently. He had to call everyone personally to tell them that his mobile phone was compromised.
A senior police officer said, “Recently, there have been complaints at cyber-crime police stations about a new type of fraud where WhatsApp accounts are being hacked, leading to financial losses. Most of the victims are officers or VVIPs in the city. Some of them managed to rectify on their own and others rushed to our assistance.”
In this type of fraud, a message will be received with a 6-digit WhatsApp activation code on the phone from numbers like +91 5XXXXXX1. After this, someone will contact you through WhatsApp message from an unknown number, claiming that their 6-digit (123456) WhatsApp activation code has been sent to your phone by mistake, and they will ask you to forward the code to them.
Believing this to be true, many people send the 6-digit WhatsApp activation code they received to the fraudster. “As soon as the fraudster receives the code, they can hack your phone number without your knowledge and create new WhatsApp Business accounts. As a result, the WhatsApp account will be disabled,” the police officer said.
“Then, the fraudsters use the hacked WhatsApp account to send messages to your friends and family, pretending to be you. They will say they are in need of urgent help, like they met with an accident or need medical assistance and will ask for money transfer to their bank account or payment platforms like GPay, PhonePe, or Paytm. In addition, they will ask your contacts for the WhatsApp activation code from their phones in an attempt to hack their WhatsApp accounts as well,” he said.
Greater Chennai City Police Commissioner A.Arun advised, “WhatsApp will never send an activation code to anyone other than the account owner. Do not share the 6-digit WhatsApp activation code that you receive on your phone with anyone. If you receive a call from an unknown or suspicious number, immediately reject the call or block the number. Be cautious when receiving calls from unknown individuals. Verify identities and never share personal or financial information.” He urged the public to report any online financial loss immediately to the Cybercrime helpline number 1930 and in the website address https://cybercrime.gov.in for further assistance.
Published – February 09, 2025 12:47 am IST