WhatsApp scam doing the rounds
METRO – An SMS campaign which can cost WhatsApp users R7 a day is doing the rounds in the country.
WhatsApp users be cautioned.
An SMS campaign which can cost WhatsApp users R7 a day is gaining momentum in the country.
Users are urged not to respond to messages from a Wireless Application Service Provider (WASP) which tells users they have not updated to the latest WhatsApp.
According to the Hoax slayer website, the message reads ‘You have not updated to the latest WhatsApp add-ons. Click here now [URL]. (Free MSG) 31655 optout dial 0110621424.’
“The text prompts them to click a link, which takes them to a page with a green ‘CONTINUE’ button.
“If people press on the continue button – and do not read all the fine print underneath – they will be charged R7 a day which is more than R200 Rand a month on their phone bills.”
The fine print below a green continue button informs people that this is actually a subscription to a social network called Buddiechat.
A blog by IT consultant Liron Segev, TheTechieGuy described the new scam as something anyone can fall for. “The scammers are counting on the fact that you will tap and click when you are not focused and in the middle of other things,” said Segev, adding that users should never update apps from links, always use the official store.
