Hackers pretend to be the WhatsApp team in order to seize users’ personal data, report our colleagues from Bleeping Computer. Citing the findings of computer security researchers from Armorblox, the media claims that a phishing campaign is currently targeting users of the instant messaging application.
First, the victim will receive an email allegedly sent by WhatsApp teams. This email claims that you have received a voice message on the application. To bypass spam filters, the hackers apparently appropriated an e-mail address belonging to the Center for Traffic Safety of the Moscow region. The organization would have been hacked.
The email sent by the hackers includes a “play” button that offers users to listen to the message. To motivate victims to click, hackers slip several pieces of information onto the voice message, such as the duration. The email hopes to pique your curiosity.
Once the user presses this play button, they are automatically redirected to a malicious website. This website will ask you to click “Allow” to confirm that you are not a robot. Unknowingly, the internet user will allow the site to flood them with advertisements in the browser for scams, adult sites and malware. This trick allows attackers to quickly generate ad revenue. Several malware, often present on the Play Store, also do this.
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WhatsApp: A phishing attack steals all your personal data
Above all, hackers will take the opportunity to install dangerous malware on your computer. It is a Trojan horse. Once installed on your machine, the virus will grab all your personal data. According to Armorblox, the malware retrieves data stored on the hard drive or credentials (password and username) from digital wallets.
Thanks to this information, hackers can easily seize cryptocurrencies ( Bitcoin, Ether, etc.) held on wallets. It is not excluded that hackers also steal credentials stored in your browser, such as credit card numbers or passwords for your online accounts.
The WhatsApp team has begun testing a new feature that will allow you to quickly start a conversation with unsaved contacts.
Currently, tapping on an unsaved contact in a WhatsApp chat opens the default dialer app. Whatsapp does not provide an easy way to immediately send a text message to such a number in the application. As a result, you have to use workarounds to send messages to unsaved numbers on WhatsApp. However, according to the WABetaInfo resource, this is about to change.
The latest beta version of WhatsApp for Android (2.22.8.11) includes a feature that offers several options for interacting with an unsaved number in a chat. Clicking on an unsaved number opens a new pop-up menu that allows you to immediately start a conversation, call or add to contacts.
