A New and Sophisticated WhatsApp Scam Targeting iPhone Users Is on the Rise

The Spanish Guardia Civil and Expert Lawyers in Technology Fraud have recently issued warnings about a new form of fraud affecting WhatsApp users on iPhone (iOS) devices. This new method is particularly dangerous because everything may appear entirely legitimate: the fraudulent message is received within the same conversation that the user has previously maintained with that person. Consequently, the victim is given no clear or obvious indication that they are actually communicating with an unknown person attempting to defraud them.

In this context, scammers request a transfer of money using excuses such as: “I need you to do me an urgent favour”, “I have a problem with my bank because my account has been blocked. Could you transfer this amount to me and I will pay you back tomorrow?”, or “I need to make an immediate payment”. In some cases, the fraudster may even provide a bank account into which the transfer is to be made, which may be either a domestic or foreign account.

The greatest danger posed by this new method of fraud is that it may be difficult for the recipient to identify any obvious reason for suspicion, since they appear to be communicating with the very same person with whom they have an existing conversation history on the application and on their mobile device. In such circumstances, it is understandable that a potential fraud victim may have no reason to distrust the message. Nevertheless, the recipient should consider certain fundamental questions, such as whether that person would normally ask for this type of favour, whether the wording used in the request is consistent with the way the genuine contact would normally communicate, or whether they should ask the interlocutor questions concerning personal information known only to the genuine contact. The answers may help determine whether they are actually communicating with that person or whether someone is attempting to impersonate them.