WhatsApp users are warned to be alert of the latest ‘scam’

WhatsApp users have been warned about the latest scam doing the rounds.

This scam could see users paying R210 per month without even noticing.

IT consultant Liron Segev from TheTechieGuy said on his blog recently that users usually update their WhatsApp application at least once every three months and cyber criminals had picked up on the necessary upgrade.

He claims that cyber criminals now send WhatsApp users an SMS with a link to upgrade the application, but the link redirects users to a different website.

“While in the website, users will assume that they are upgrading their WhatsApp, but in reality, they have unknowingly registered with a subscription service that costs R7 per day,” he said.

At the end of the month a user can be charged about R210 for just using WhatsApp.

It is alleged that users unknowingly subscribe for an app called Buddiechat.

Vodacom spokesman Richard Boorman said that the company had set up a crowd-sourcing “scams tab” on its Facebook page where people could post suspicious SMSes.

“The received information goes straight to our fraud and risk team who then investigate and block any numbers involved with scams.

“We also post the most recent scams so that people can see some of the common fraudulent SMSes doing the rounds,” Boorman expalined.

Boorman said that the service provider would act against other service providers trying to circumvent the rules.

This would include revoking the supplier’s access to the network and customers.

My Broadband issued the following tips to unsubscribe from a wireless application service provider (wasp):

• Cell C: Dial *133*1#. Subscribers can block all existing and future content billing.

• MTN: Dial *141*5# and select which services to unsubscribe from.

• Vodacom: Vodacom users can unsubscribe from all Wasp services by sending “STOP ALL” to 30333.

Have you received any suspicious SMSes you believed were a scam?