WHATSAPP has issued out a warning to its 2billion users over spam messages.
Spam, unwanted messages and ‘phishing’ have been on the rise in recent years.
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Phishing is when bad actors send a message that trick users into clicking a bad link that will download malware, direct them to a dodgy website, or reveal personal information.
Unwanted messages may come from an unknown number, or one of your known contacts.
It’s possible that a known contact’s WhatsApp was hacked into and the fraudster is trying to lure others into downloading certain malware through links.
“These types of messages could spread misinformation and lead you to believe inaccurate information,” experts at WhatsApp said.
“If a message looks suspicious or sounds too good to be true, don’t tap, share, or forward it.
“When you receive this type of message, we recommend you report the message, block the sender, and delete the message.”
How to block a suspicious number
If you receive a suspicious text or a call from an unknown number, you can easily stop them from being able to contact you again.
Blocking a number means you will stop receiving messages, calls, and status updates from them.
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To block a number, open WhatsApp and click on the chat with the unknown number.
Tap the phone number at the top of the screen, where their display picture is located.
Then scroll to the bottom of that page and tap Block or Report and Block.
Alternatively, you can click Calls at the bottom of the screen, find the suspicious number and click the ‘i’ icon to the right.
Then scroll down to the bottom of the page and tap Block or Report and Block.
You can also choose to report an account by long pressing a single message.
When a number is blocked, your last seen, online, status updates, and any changes made to your profile photo will no longer be visible to them.
WhatsApp receives the last five messages sent to you by the reported user or group, and they won’t be notified.
The company also receives the reported group or user ID, information on when the message was sent and the type of message sent (image, video, text, etc.).
Blocking a contact won’t remove them from your contacts list, nor will it remove you from the list on the contact’s phone.
To delete a contact, you must delete the contact from your phone’s address book.
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