WhatsApp this week: It’s all about a scam

WhatsApp OTP scams are one of the oldest tricks in the books that scammers all around the world use for duping innocent users.

Whenever you sense something suspicious, just log out of your WhatsApp account and try logging in again. (REUTERS)

WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in the world. One of the many factors that makes it popular among all age groups is its ability to add new features and improve old ones. In the past, reports have detailed features that will be available in the app. However, in the past week rumour mill remained silent about the features and improvements that will be made available in the app in the coming days.

This week the reports remained silent about the app's upcoming features. This space was filled by a scam.

WhatsApp OTP scams are one of the oldest tricks in the books that scammers all around the world use for duping innocent users. What happens is pretty simple. When you register a new phone number in the app, it sends an OTP to verify your number. Once you enter this OTP in the app, WhatsApp authenticates you and gives you access to your account. Scammers use this OTP feature to break in.

They try to get in touch with innocent users on other messaging platforms pretending to be family or friends. Then they tell users that they have been logged out of their WhatsApp accounts and need help getting the OTP to activate their accounts. They ask users if they (users) could receive OTP on their behalf. Once users give them the OTP, they lose access to their own accounts.

This week we saw similar reports popping up on our radar.

Thankfully, there is an easy trick using which you can ensure that scammers don't get access to your account. Whenever you sense something suspicious, just log out of your WhatsApp account and try logging in again. Once you do so, WhatsApp will send you a fresh OTP to authenticate your phone number. Once this happens, the scammer will be logged out of your WhatsApp account, and all your data will be saved.