WHATSAPP users are being warned about a viral message that’s leaving users scared their phone is about to be hacked.
The message regards a supposed video called “India is doing it” and claims it will hack your phone in 10 seconds if you watch it.
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According to Full Fact, the full message reads: “They are going to start circulating a video on WhatsApp that shows how the Covid19 curve is flattening in India.
“The file is called “India is doing it”, do not open it or see it, it hacks your phone in 10 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way.
“Pass the information on to your family and friends.
“Apparently this was also mentioned on TV news.”
Fact checking service Boom says this message is fake and a hoax.
A similar and almost identical message was sent around earlier in 2020 but it mentioned Argentina instead of India.
This was also a hoax.
There is no evidence that the video is real or that anyone has been hacked via this method.
Hoax messages normally ask a user to forward the message on and mention some form of punishment.
You should be wary of messages worded in this way.
WhatsApp – a quick history
Here’s what you need to know…
- WhatsApp was created in 2009 by computer programmers Brian Acton and Jan Koum – former employees of Yahoo
- It’s one of the most popular messaging services in the world
- Koum came up with the name WhatsApp because it sounded like “what’s up”
- After a number of tweaks the app was released with a messaging component in June 2009, with 250,000 active users
- It was originally free but switched to a paid service to avoid growing too fast. Then in 2016, it became free again for all users
- Facebook bought WhatsApp Inc in February 2014 for $19.3billion (£14.64bn)
- The app is particularly popular because all messages are encrypted during transit, shutting out snoopers
- WhatsApp has over 2billion users globally
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Have you ever received a hoax WhatsApp message? Let us know in the comments…
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
