WHATSAPP users have been warned they could be banned for installing one of a trio of copycat messenger apps.
FM WhatsApp, GB WhatsApp and Yo WhatsApp have copied the popular Meta-owned messenger to lure in unsuspecting users – but they’re not safe.
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These three ‘dupe’ apps are essentially modified versions of WhatsApp.
They often have features that the real WhatsApp doesn’t, which is how users can be lured into downloading them.
But according to expert @osy_tech on TikTok, these apps are “not safe or secure to use” and smartphone users should always opt for the official WhatsApp messenger instead.
“The reason is that these apps have security issues… your files and your data can be exposed or given to a third party, which means that your videos and your pictures can be exposed,” Osy explained.
Users can be temporarily banned for using the apps, according to Osy.
What is perhaps worse than time-limited block from the official WhatsApp is the success of FM WhatsApp, GB WhatsApp and Yo WhatsApp in spreading malware.
Cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky have already pulled the plug on the idea that FM WhatsApp and Yo WhatsApp are legitimate and safe apps.
Experts discovered in 2021 and 2022 that both apps download Trojan software onto smartphones, which show ads, secretly subscribe users to paid content and steal their WhatsApp accounts.
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While fellow web security firm ESET revealed last year that GB WhatsApp was one of the prime suspects in spreading malware after a spike in trojan software was discovered in India.
Luckily, you won’t find these apps on the Google Play Store or on Apple’s App Store.
They need to be sideloaded for other sources, which the average WhatsApp user is unlikely to do.
These apps “caught the eye of the malware distributors because it has a significant user base,” according to Kaspersky.
“The fact that the mod wasn’t allowed on Google Play played into the hands of the criminals.
“Therefore, users are accustomed to downloading YoWhatsApp from sources of varying degrees of trustworthiness.”
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