Millions of WhatsApp users are being urged to make some simple changes to their settings today to avoid being hacked or scammed.
Following the recent return of a six-digit WhatsApp text scam, the team behind the popular messaging app has shared a set of instructions for anyone looking to protect their messages and photos.
First off, make sure your profile picture is private so that strangers can’t steal your photo and impersonate you.
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To do this, head to Settings > Account > Privacy > Profile Picture and select My contacts.
This will stop people you don’t know from seeing your photo or misusing it for a ‘friend in need’ scam, which is where hackers impersonate family members or close friends then asks for money to be transferred to them due to a fake ’emergency’.
One of the biggest WhatsApp scams doing the rounds at the moment is where hackers hijack or impersonate an account and then contact people asking for their six-digit recovery code.
As a result, WhatsApp is also warning people never to share their six-digit account activation code.
Another key security setting change you can make is activating two-step verification, which ensures you have an extra layer of protection against any fraudulent login attempts.
Just open your WhatsApp settings then head to Account > Two-step verification > Enable.
Finally, WhatsApp has urged people to ‘STOP. THINK. CALL.’
Essentially, if anyone you know sends an unusual request on WhatsApp, such as for a bank transfer, your six-digit recovery code, or sends a weird-looking link, you should phone them on the app and talk to them over voice or video call to ensure it’s really them—rather than a scammer.
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