WHATSAPP fans are being placed on high alert as a nasty scam makes a comeback that could leave users of the popular chat app locked from their account and their most private chats exposed.

Cyber criminals are once again targeting the popular WhatsApp service with a nasty scam that can leave users locked out of their private accounts. Worse still, this sinister attack also hands full access to your most private messages, and contacts list, over to hackers who can then use it to target more unsuspecting users. This new scam uses an old technic that's been seen in the wild before and appears pretty successful.

Those tricked, will usually receive a message on their phone that appears to have come from a friend or contact (who has probably already been taken in by the scam).

Once the hackers know you are willing to respond they then target your phone and attempt to gain access to your chat account via WhatsApp's security pin number.


It's a pretty simple scam as whenever you upgrade your smartphone, WhatsApp will ask to verify your identity using your phone number before allowing you to access any chats backed-up to the cloud.

It's this six-digit code that hackers need to get their hands on to gain access to your account. To verify the identity of the person trying to log into your WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned firm will send a randomly generated six-digit code in a text message to the phone number that's registered with the account. Of course, this won't go to the hackers, but will end up on your phone.

Next, the hackers will send a text to you – making an excuse for the six-digit code being sent to you – and asking you to forward it on to them.

As soon as you send the code, WhatsApp believes that it's a genuine attempt to login to your account and will enable the chat on the hackers' smartphone.

As far as your contacts are concerned, the hackers are now you and can continue to send texts in your WhatsApp conversations, or group chats.

This scam was circulating earlier this year and now it's been spotted again. Currently, it appears that WhatsApp users in India are the main target but it's a good reminder to be on alert if you get a message asking you to forward on a pin number

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