To tell you about this whatsapp scam I stupidly fell for

[xtinak]

Basically, once they've hacked your friend, you get a message in WhatsApp from your friend saying that they need to get a code sent to you and can you send it to them. Don't because they will then hack your WhatsApp and the cycle continues. I put 2 factor authentication on so I don't think they have actually hacked me fully, but they've tried to get in so many times that both I and presumably the hacker are now locked out for 12 hours. Massive PITA. My friend's number has now been changed to have a country code from Pakistan. So yeah.

Would also be interested to hear if it happened to anyone else, even if you were smart enough not to send the code!

Hi, op. Nope, not happened to me but thanks for the heads up!

I didnt even know whatsapp scams were a thing.

I think alarm bells should ring when you get these types of messages. Anything asking for personal details , 'codes' , links etc should be avoided.

Why on earth would a friend ever need a code sent to you instead of them? Sorry OP, but I that was a rookie mistake. Hope your phone is okay.

Sure if it had been an email then I would have known but it just never occurred to me that someone could take over a friend's whatsapp account. I would feel sillier except that 3 of us fell for it and we are young, educated, tech savvy etc. I had literally fixed a hack on someone's amazon account the same day! And that is why I'm sharing it. I'm back in now and thanks to 2 factor authentication they never actually got into my account.

Thanks for the warning!!!

OP, I'm not criticising you. But i'm interested that your instinct is that the tech protects you (or, in this case, failed to protect you). Did it not seem odd to get such a request from a friend?

I am fascinated by this slightly different approach - I assume you are a million times more tech savvy than me so feel more comfortable relying on tech? As someone older, I have no idea what can and can't be hacked (but I watch a lot of TV so... ) so I base my decision-making on these things on what sounds realistic.

I guess I do rely on the tech to protect me yes! Interesting point. And it did work in this case, but it was pretty inconvenient to be temporarily locked out for the sake of my own protection. It did seem a bit strange and I actually showed it to my DH and it also didn't occur to him that it was a scam. I think it's because we thought it was a safe platform and also, by chance I guess, to do with the nature of the friend who was hacked. As I said, a strange email or a text I would have been alert to because I encounter those all the time. Somehow the same thought process just didn't take place because it was WhatsApp.