WhatsApp scam: This scam lets hackers to hijack your account using a phone call
WhatsApp scams have become fairly common these days and hackers keep finding new ways of duping innocent WhatsApp users of giving up control of their accounts. Now, security researchers have detected a new scam that enables hackers to gain control of WhatsApp users’ accounts using a simple phone call. The new scam was highlighted by founder and CEO of CloudSEk, which is a contextual AI company that predicts cyber threats, Rahul Sasi.
As victims get a call from hackers to call on numbers starting with ’67’ or ‘405’. Once they make the call, they are logged out of their WhatsApp accounts and hackers gain complete control of their accounts within seconds.
“First, you receive a call from the attacker who will convince you to make a call to the following number **67*<10 digit number> or *405*<10 digit number>. Within a few minutes, your WhatsApp would be logged out, and the attackers would get complete control of your account,” Sasi wrote in a post.
— Rahul Sasi (@fb1h2s) May 23, 2022
How does the WhatsApp hack work
As the CloudSEK founder explained, the number that victims dial is a service request for Jio and Airtel for ‘call forwarding’ for when your number is busy or engaged. This way they are able to forward victims’ calls to a number that they own. In the meantime, the attackers start the WhatsApp registration process and “choose the option to send OTP via a phone call.’ “Since your phone is engaged, the OTP will go to the attacker’s phone,” he said. This way, the attacker is able to gain access to victims’ accounts.
The security researcher says that this trick can also be used to hack into anyone’s WhatsApp account if a hacker has physical access to their phone and has permissions to make calls. “Every country and service provider has a similar service request number, so this trick works globally,” he added.
How do I protect myself
The best and the easiest way to not fall prey to this trick is by not responding to calls from unknown numbers or making calls to unknown numbers.
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