You cannot use WhatsApp for two-factor authentication (2FA) on any app or service that we're aware of. If you want to find more information, you can use a free reverse phone number lookup tool. Most WhatsApp scammers use a fake location to hide their identity or add credibility to their stories. If the code doesn’t match their supposed location, the chances are they are trying to scam you. Each phone number starts with the country code. If you receive a WhatsApp message from an unknown international number, take a look at the number’s first digits. In practice, the only thing you'll receive in exchange for your efforts is a stolen identity. Shopping vouchers: One of the most common WhatsApp scams, you'll get a message offering $250 of high street shopping vouchers if you complete a survey.Remember, WhatsApp never charges to download the app and will not levy any new charges on your account once you're up and running. You'll see a message claiming that your WhatsApp account has expired and you need to pay to reactivate it. WhatsApp expiration: Another classic WhatsApp scam.Clicking on the link and sending a payment would apparently get you access to a fancier version of WhatsApp that celebrities were using. WhatsApp Gold: A supposedly premium version of WhatsApp was spammed to millions of users throughout 2016.Many famous WhatsApp scams of the last few years have used this form of spam. Click on the link at your peril it's going to try and illicit your personal details, banking details, login credentials, or any other form of data that has value on the dark web. The distinction is important: if a message has been forwarded more than five times, it's almost always going to be a form of spam-whether that's yet another boring meme that's doing the rounds, fake news, or something more sinister.Ī huge part of WhatsApp spam has a single purpose-to try and make you open a link in the message. You'll also see a small warning on the message box itself, letting you know that the message has been 'forwarded many times.' When a message has been forwarded five times, you'll see a double arrow icon rather than the single arrow that denotes a typical forwarded message. However, users might be less aware that WhatsApp has a separate indicator for frequently-forwarded messages. Most WhatsApp users will be aware that the app lets you forward messages received from one person directly to another recipient (for those who didn't know, long-press a message and tap the forward option on the pop-up menu that appears).

Here are our top ways to spot WhatsApp spam, along with some advice on what steps you should take if you receive such a message.

Whatsapp spam bot 2020