WhatsApp users in Gedling borough are being warned about a creepy new message scam which pretends to come from one of your phone contacts and then hacks your account.
Tech expert Alexis Conran alerted his Twitter followers about the scam. Which? magazine is also carrying a warning.
Mr Conran also shared a screen grab of the scam message victims will receive.
He tweeted: “This is a WhatsApp scam that continues to catch people out. It starts with this text message that arrives on your phone out of the blue.
“Immediately after you get a WhatsApp message from someone in your contacts. The message reads ‘Hello, sorry I sent you a 6-digit code by SMS by mistake, Can you transfer it to me please? It’s urgent.’
“What has actually happened is your friend’s account has been hacked. Scammers are now trying to hack all their contacts. You are one of them.
“The are trying to set up WhatsApp on a new device with your number. WhatsApp acknowledges this and sends an 6-digit authorisation code to your mobile phone by SMS. The scammers now try and get you to forward it to them by pretending to be a friend of yours. If you send them the code, your WhatsApp will be hacked.
Alexis then issued advice on what to do if you receive the scam message.
“Turn on 2-step verification if you haven’t already,” he Tweeted.
“Contact your friend who’s account has been hacked… obviously not using WhatsApp, remember the scammers are in control of that … and get them to sign out and turn on 2-step verification. That should shut out the scammers.”
