As one of the world's leading instant messaging platforms, it's no surprise that WhatsApp is a frequent target for hackers. As such, you'll want to understand how your WhatsApp account can be compromised and take serious steps to protect your WhatsApp account, messages, and personal data.
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Sometimes, hackers don't need to hack your WhatsApp account directly. Sometimes, they just need to install a nasty piece of malware on your device and let it do all the heavy lifting.
Someone can access your WhatsApp messages using malware in a number of ways. Malware with keyloggers can run silently in the background and record what you type. This includes anything you send to your friends, but can also contain data like usernames and passwords you enter.
Some malware will instead collect your messages directly. This includes malware that goes through your WhatsApp chats and sends them back to the hacker, but it can also include viruses that hijack your phone’s screen recording feature and use it to record video of what you’re watching. If you happen to be chatting with someone while the malware is recording your phone, the cybercriminal can see what you’re talking about.
While malware will primarily monitor your messages, there are ways hackers can gain direct access to your WhatsApp account. These usually involve tricking you into giving hackers the means to circumvent your account's two-factor authentication (2FA) .
By far the easiest way for hackers to break your account's 2FA protection is to have WhatsApp send them login codes instead of you. One of WhatsApp's 2FA methods is to give you login codes over your phone, so hackers can use call forwarding to redirect those calls to themselves.
To achieve this, the scammer will convince you to enter a Man Machine Interface (MMI) code to redirect your calls to them. They can use a variety of tricks, but the most common method is to convince you that you need to call someone and then convert the MMI code to their phone number.
Once you set up call forwarding, a cybercriminal can log into your account and select a voice call to get your 2FA code. WhatsApp tries to call you, but the call is forwarded to the scammer, who then has access to your login code.
Cybercriminals can also get your 2FA login code by asking you for it. Of course, they often say it's something else, not the only thing, that's preventing them from accessing your account.
This particular attack targets SMS-based 2FA, where WhatsApp sends you a 6-digit code that you have to enter into the app to log in. In this attack, the scammer will contact you and convince you that the 6 digits are actually something else and ask you to provide it.
A campaign reported by Nottinghamshire Police in the UK saw scammers telling their victims that the six-digit code was actually a passcode for an important video call. People would hand over the code, thinking it would let them into a special group, unaware that the person on the other end of the line was about to steal their account.
When you want to use WhatsApp web, you have to scan a QR code with your phone. Unfortunately, cybercriminals have figured out how to interfere with this process and create fake WhatsApp web pages that display malicious QR codes. Once scanned, the scammer will have access to your account.
The Straits Times reported that the scam starts with a web search for WhatsApp Web. Usually, the official WhatsApp website is the top result, but scammers are good at getting fake websites to the top of search engine results . And because people tend to trust the first result, they click on it without realizing they’ve fallen for the scam.
The fake site looks exactly like WhatsApp web, except it has a malicious QR code that can steal people's accounts. Some people don't even realize they've given up personal information after scanning the code, as there's no obvious clue what's happened other than not being able to log into WhatsApp web.
To learn more about whether WhatsApp is safe, check out Quantrimang.com 's guide to WhatsApp security threats users need to know about .
There are many ways people can access your account and messages. Fortunately, there are many steps you can take to prevent bad guys from getting in.
It is very important that you do not give out your login code, no matter what the cybercriminal says. Login codes sent via SMS will often come with a message explaining what the code is, and some will even ask you to never share the code with anyone else, so make sure you double-check what you are sending before following the instructions.
You should stop and think before following instructions. Does what the person is asking you to do make you feel “off”? If so, you should handle the situation with extreme caution.
For example, if someone asks you to call a phone number and the phone number they give you contains pound signs, asterisks, or greater-than and less-than symbols for some reason, that should raise red flags. These symbols represent MMI codes, which means the scammer is trying to set up port forwarding on your phone.
If you're worried about malware, make sure your phone has good antivirus software installed. Some phones come with their own antivirus software, but if they don't, you'll need to download it from your phone's app store.
If you want to use WhatsApp Web, always make sure you go to this URL: https://web.whatsapp.com/. You can bookmark it for later or type it manually in your address bar - it's easy to remember. This way, you know you'll always be going to the official WhatsApp Web website.
If you can’t stop searching for WhatsApp Web every time you want to use it, double-check the URL you click on. Don’t blindly trust the first result; double-check the URL before scanning any content on the site. You could risk losing your account if it shows anything different than the URL above.
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