IN recent months there has been an increase in people being scammed when making online purchases and the Durban North CPF has now warned of another scam in circulation, the WhatsApp scam alert using a one-time password (OTP).

While it isn’t new and cases have been reported across the world, the scam is seemingly innocuous as the victim receives a WhatsApp message from a contact asking them to check their messages for an OTP or verification code that was sent to them by mistake.

They in turn ask for the message to be sent back.

Also read: Woman defrauded R14 000 in online property scam in Durban North

“There has been an increase in WhatsApp hijackings taking place. The scammers send a message pretending to be your friend. They will also have the person’s profile picture. They will make up a story like the message below, and ask you to send an OTP,” explained CPF public relations officer Darryl Oliver.

“The OTP is used to link your WhatsApp to another device. Once they link it, the scammers are able to hijack your account and use your number to send other scam messages to your contacts and in some cases, kick you out of your own account.”

“We are urging residents never to send anyone any type of OTP, even if you know that person. One time passwords are for when you are needing one, not someone else asking you for one,” Oliver said.

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