A 31-year-old resident recently reported to Ladysmith police that she had been the victim of what appears to be a new type of scam involving WhatsApp messaging.
On Thursday (April 20), the woman received a message with a WhatsApp access code contained therein. Shortly thereafter, she was phoned by a male person who claimed to be from the WhatsApp company and he asked her for the code so that he could ensure that she would be able to access her WhatsApp with the new code.
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For two hours after that, her WhatsApp did not work and she soon realised why when friends started calling her to find out if she was all right.
She was shocked to learn that they had received WhatsApp messages from her number, asking them for money and airtime.
The messages claimed she was in trouble and could be arrested if the money or airtime was not forthcoming soon. Some of her friends did pay money over and others paid for airtime.
While the complainant was reporting the matter to police, more of her friends were being targeted in this way.
Police appeal to the public to be aware of this new scam which appears to intercept your WhatsApp messages.
In the interests of keeping your money safe, police advise that if you have received such a code, do not use it. Instead, compare it to the one you originally received when you first installed the application. Inevitably, it will differ considerably.
If you have used such an access code, it is advisable to delete your WhatsApp and reinstall it again.
If you receive phone calls from anyone requesting you to provide the code verbally, do not provide it to them.
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