WhatsApp, the world’s most popular communication application, has been recently prone to a scam, popularly known as the ‘WhatsApp OTP Scam’.
The modus operandi in this new form of phishing attack starts with the hacker sending a message to a person claiming to be his friend. After providing assurance and showing some need, the hacker will ask for the OTP, which was accidentally forward to the person’s account.
Once the scammer gets access to your WhatsApp account through OTP validation, you would be locked out of your account with the hacker having access to all your personal data.
The hacker may then request monetary help from your near and dear ones who you have chatted recently with. This chain of event gets doubled eventually leading to more such victims.
The Government and various companies including banking institutions are frequently posting details of such phishing attacks and frauds happening and how to prevent them. One of the most important rule is to never share your OTP or personal information on the phone. Another step is to keep changing passwords regularly with different passcodes for different accounts.