WhatsApp account hacked: The fraudsters impersonated the user and told her contacts that she needed money to go to Odisha urgently.
A 45-year-old woman in Kolkata has allegedly been hacked out of her WhatsApp account by cybercriminals who are now impersonating her while asking for money from the people in her contact list, including friends and family.
The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, said that her Wi-Fi at home was not working, so she filed a complaint with the telecom service providers’ customer care asking for help. Later, on June 5, she received a call from a person who pretended to be a customer care executive and told her to dial starting with 401 — a code used to forward calls and messages on numbers ending with 67 and other sets. This, the fake customer care executive said would solve her problem, the Times of India reported.
It was only a day later that the woman realised her Whatsapp account was hacked and that her contacts were getting requests for money on her behalf. As per the report, the fraudsters claimed to the contacts that the woman needed the money to go to Odisha urgently.
“Each WhatsApp account is linked to one phone number on one device. When hackers try to link them onto their own, they try to get it done through a verification code. If you give this code out, a fraudster can access all your phone contacts,” an investigator told the Times of India.
The Kolkata police also took to Facebook to warn the public about this new threat. The warning message stated, “WhatsApp Getting Hacked! If you receive this kind of message and if any person on your WhatsApp contacts list (even if known) asks you to forward the same, please don’t do so. Fraudsters are using this to take control of your WhatsApp account. We have received a few such complaints and seek your cooperation.”
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