WhatsApp users have been issued an urgent warning to ignore, block and report messages from a dodgy account.
Millions of people across the globe use WhatsApp's messaging system to keep in touch with friends and family, but recently a scam on the app has been luring people in and getting them to hand out private information.
This was highlighted on WhatsApp blog WABetaInfo with a number of screenshots from a Discord user who demonstrated how the fraudsters use a verified badge in their profile picture to fool unsuspecting users.
Advert
Sharing two images comparing a real WhatsApp support interaction with a fake one, they wrote: "This is the case of a user from my Discord Server, shimon128.
"After receiving a suspicious message from a WhatsApp account that pretended to be from WhatsApp Support, he reported the contact because it was a fake account that wanted to steal some information.
"Some of these accounts set a particular profile photo that contains a verified badge so they may be able to people."
They go on to explain how to confirm you're chatting with a verified account on WhatsApp, and that is thanks to a verified tick badge next to the contact name in their conversation screen and chat info.
As for the fake account, they'll be trying to get important information from you, for example a six-digit code or two-step verification PIN to get into your WhatsApp account or your credit card info.
The blog writer added that a verified account would never ask for such details, nor would they never ask for money or confidential data, especially not through chat.
So, what should you do if one of these scammers does get through to you or you're suspicious that they might not be legit?
"In this case, just block and report the fake contact right within their chat info," they wrote, adding that the last five messages of the chat will be shared with the official WhatsApp moderation team so they can investigate it further and have the scam account removed.
As pointed out by the blog post, with the rise of technology and social media, this issue isn't exclusive to WhatsApp.
Fake accounts come in many forms in the digital era, from cold call scammers through to bot accounts on Instagram.
As always, stay vigilant, report any suspicious activity and make sure none of your friends or family fall for these tricksters either.
Topics: WhatsApp, Technology
Daisy Phillipson