My experience with WhatsApp over the years has generally been pretty positive, and, like many others, I find it a great way to connect with friends and family, especially if they live in another country.
However, one thing that annoys me about WhatsApp, and this happens on other messaging services as well, is the scam/phishing messages that occasionally land in my inbox. While they’re easy enough to delete and ignore, some of them try to pose as legitimate services or as an old friend, which could trick some users and result in them being scammed or even losing access to their WhatsApp account.
Fortunately, Meta (which owns WhatsApp) is implementing new measures that will make it even harder for bad actors to try to hijack your account. The social media giant made the announcement in a recent blog post, outlining the new AI anti-scam tools it is implementing not only on WhatsApp, but also on Facebook and Messenger.
- End-to-end encryption
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Yes
- Calling
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Voice and Video Calls
- Website
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Yes
- App
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Android and iOS
WhatsApp will now alert you about device linking scams
The alert will appear if a new device link is suspicious
For WhatsApp specifically, Meta is introducing a new “WhatsApp device linking warning” that will alert you if someone may be trying to trick you into linking your account to their device.
For example, a scammer might pose as a friend and ask you to vote in a competition. When you click the link they send, a pop-up could appear asking you to verify your WhatsApp account. That verification sends a code used to link a new device. If you enter the code and approve the request, you could unknowingly give the scammer access to your WhatsApp account on their device, allowing them to see all your messages.
Now, thanks to Meta’s new anti-scam measures, if WhatsApp detects that a device-linking request may be suspicious, it will show a warning before you proceed. The alert will let you know the request could be a scam and show the location it’s coming from, so you can stop it before your account is compromised (as you can see in the image above).
Another way scammers may try to hijack your WhatsApp account is by sending you a QR code to scan, again under false pretenses, which links your account to their device. If WhatsApp detects that this may be happening, the same scam warning will appear so you can stop it.
“Our global work to protect people against scammers is never done. We will continue to invest in new technologies, share updates on our progress on enforcement, and collaborate with partners to ensure a safer experience for everyone across our platforms,” Meta explained in a blog post.
In addition to the new WhatsApp scam warning, Meta is also rolling out a scam detection feature in Messenger that flags chats with new contacts showing “patterns of common scams.” Facebook is also getting a feature that alerts you to suspicious friend requests, helping you make “an informed decision to block or reject suspicious requests.”
WhatsApp and Messenger’s new scam detection features are rolling out now, while Meta is currently testing the new Facebook suspicious friend request warning before rolling it out widely.
In other WhatsApp news, it was recently discovered that Meta may be working on a new premium subscription for the app called “WhatsApp Plus,” which gives you access to exclusive customization options.
