A warning is going around about WhatsApp money requests that may be scams. One call to the real person can keep your money safe.
A warning is circulating about money requests that show up on WhatsApp. Some of them are scams. The advice is simple: before you send money, check that the person asking is really who they say they are.
WhatsApp is a free messaging app used by many people to chat with family, friends and coworkers. Scammers use it too. They often pose as a friend, a relative or a boss, because a request feels real when it seems to come from someone you know. The warning, reported by The 420.in, points to this trick.
Any WhatsApp user could get one of these messages. The warning is aimed most at people who hear from unknown numbers, or from contacts who suddenly ask for an urgent payment. If you never get messages like that, you are less likely to be caught off guard, but it is still worth knowing the pattern.
The red flags are easy to remember. A message comes from a new number. It asks for money fast. It pressures you to act before you can think. Any one of these is a reason to pause.
The steps are in the alert box above. The key one is a quick call to the person on a number you already have saved. Do not use a number from the message itself.
The material does not say how many people have been targeted, how much money has been lost, or whether one group is behind the messages. Those details were not provided.
Before you send money on WhatsApp, call the person on a number you already know and confirm the request is real.
The Attala County Sheriff's Office in Mississippi says scam calls are reaching residents, and a call that sounds official may not be.
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Read more: Fake jury duty calls spoof a real Texas sheriff's phone numberFake PayPal emails and texts, some posing as a security report, try to get you to tap a link and type your login. Checking your account directly avoids the trap.
Read more: Got a fake PayPal message? Skip its link and check your account yourself
