New takeover scam targeting WhatsApp users, say police
The police yesterday issued a crime advisory on a new variant of scams reported overseas, involving the takeover of WhatsApp accounts.
In these cases, after taking over a victim's WhatsApp account, scammers post a screenshot of a WhatsApp account verification code in chat groups, under the guise of alerting its members to WhatsApp account takeover scams.
At the same time, they would use another device to attempt to log in to the accounts of the chat group members.
As a result, these members would each receive verification codes on their own devices.
This could lure them into posting screenshots of the codes in the chat group, to share that they are experiencing the same situation.
The scammers would then take over their WhatsApp accounts using these codes.
The police advise the public to refrain from sharing account verification codes, and to beware of any unusual request received over WhatsApp, even if it was apparently sent by a contact.
WhatsApp users should also protect their accounts by enabling the two-step verification feature found under Account in the Settings tab of the application.
If your WhatsApp account has been taken over by a scammer, you can recover it by signing into your account using your phone number, and entering the verification number sent to your phone.
If you wish to provide any information on such scams, you can call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000, or submit it online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.
If you seek scam-related advice, you may call the anti-scam helpline at 1800-722-6688 or go to www.scamalert.sg
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