With over two billion monthly active users, WhatsApp is currently one of the biggest cross-platform instant messaging platforms in the world. While Meta is trying to make it more secure and private by adding features like chat lock, hiding the last seen status, and more, miscreants are finding more ways to scam WhatsApp users. Recently, many WhatsApp users in India were duped off their life savings by scammers. Most WhatsApp users were lured by fake job offers and work-from-home opportunities, only to lose their hard-earned money eventually. Here's how you can outsmart cybercriminals and protect yourself from WhatsApp scams. Never answer a WhatsApp call from an unknown number There has been a surge in calls from international numbers on WhatsApp, which has even caught the attention of the Indian government. Scammers call random users, possibly obtained from a leaked database, and pose fake job offers where the user is required to make an upfront payment. No genuine company will ask for money from a user just to apply for a job. If they ask for a payment, it's most likely a fake call. Never pick up a call from an unknown number on WhatsApp, and we recommend blocking that number permanently so they can't call you again. Never reply to a message from an unknown number Never respond to a WhatsApp message claiming to offer a part-time job or a work-from-home opportunity that pays more than your regular job. If it's a business number, always ensure that it has a green tick, which indicates that it belongs to an officially listed and verified business on WhatsApp. If you receive a message from an unknown international number, the first thing to do is block and report that number, unless it's from a friend or family member who is actually abroad. Change these important privacy settings Go to WhatsApp > Settings > Privacy and adjust the options for Last Seen, Profile Photo, About, and Status to either My Contacts or Nobody. If set to Everyone, anyone with your phone number will be able to access a lot of information about you and these changes to prevent it from happening. Similarly, in the same privacy menu, go to Groups and select Only My Contacts for adding you to groups. This prevents unknown users from adding you to unfamiliar groups. Lastly, for added protection, use a PIN or biometric authentication to lock WhatsApp, ensuring that even if someone gets hold of your phone, they won't be able to access your WhatsApp account.
