How To Protect Whatsapp From Fraudsters And Hackers

HOW TO PROTECT WHATSAPP FROM FRAUDSTERS AND HACKERS
How To Protect Whatsapp From Fraudsters And Hackers…
Since the mobile app Whatsapp came into being in 2009 it has become a major part of our everyday lives as there is hardly an internet enabled phone user that dors not make use of the app. Research has it that over 2 billion people in the world makes use of the Whatsapp Mobile app. No surprises as it has a lot of features that has made communication and keeping up with our family, loved ones, and friends easier. You can now talk to anyone via voice call or video call which is cheaper compared to making calls on normal phone call charges by mobile network providers.

As much as this mobile app has made communication with our family, loved ones, and friends easier, a lot of people use it to defraud them by hacking into our accounts and inpersonating us. This mostly happen when we lost our phones and it gets found by fraudsters, hackers, or people working with them. I have heard of a lady who lost her phone and it got found by fraudsters who used it to message her Whatsapp contacts asking them to send money to a strange account as she is in need of financial support. One of them suspected a foul play as she is not the type that ask for help from anyone, even if she does need help she would send her account number not that of someone else. She called her phone several times, it rang but no one picked so she decided to call her husband to inform her to pick up. He then informed her that his wife lost her phone earlier and gave the phone to his wife to speak to her friend, who informed her of the message she got on Whatsapp. The lady informed her friend it wasnt her and asked she message many of their friends she could asking them to ignore the message. She also used her husbands phone to call her relatives asking them to ignore if they got that message or any similar message lije that until she retrieves her line and inform them she has done it.

This one happened to me, i got a message from a friend asking me to click a facebook link to help her vote so she could win a beauty pageant held on facebook. I know her to be an aspiring model so i had no suspicions. I clicked the link to vote only to be directed to a facebook login page.

I wanted to enter my Faceboom login details when it dawned on me that the link wasnt suppose to lead me to a login page since am already logged on to Facebook. I then ignored the link and decided not to use it with suspicions of hacking activities as a lot of my friends had earlier complained of their facebook account being hacked and they had to open another one.

Not too long after i decided not to use the link, i got several messages from her on whatsapp asking i login. One of the messages acused me of being a bad friend who wouldnt be there for a friend who needed him to win a pageant that would help her modelling career. I felt bad but i still had my suspicions so i decided to ask her some questions i know she would easily respond to but she tried to manuever them.

So i asked she tell me how we became friends, the easiest of the questions. I didnt get my reply as i expected, this confirmed my suspicions and prompted me to block her on Whatsapp. Later that day, i contacted some of my friends on Whatsapp who are also friends with her to inform them of the incident. They said they clicked the link and logged in and ever since then they have not been abke to acess their facebook accounts.

We had to call our friend but couldnt get her that day. The next day i called her it connected, i told her how we have been trying to reach her but to no avail, she informed me she lost her phone that day. She went to a popular plaza in my city to get something and forgot her phone there, before she remembered and went back to get the phone, someone else had collected it and it was too late to go for Sim retrieval so she waited till the day i called her to retrieve her sim.

How To Protect Whatsapp From Fraudsters And Hackers…
These and many more are the reason you need to protect your Whatsapp so it dont fall in the wrong hands that will use it to defraud people inpersonating you. To protect your whatsapp, there is a feature on the app called Two-step Verification with which you can set a password on your Whatsapp that would be requested from time to time as you make use of the app. Here is how you can acess it and get it active to protect your whatsapp against fraudsters:

STEP 1 ) Click or touch the three dots on the right top corner of your Whatsapp chat home.

STEP 2 ) A pop up will appear. Under you will see setting, click or touch it.

STEP 3 ) Another pop up will appear, click on or touch the one that says ‘Account’. Under it you will see ‘Privacy, Security, Change number’.

STEP 4) A pop up will appear where you will see ‘Two-step verification.’ Click on it or touch it.

STEP 5 ) Another pop up will appear that says “For added security, enable two step verification, which will require a PIN when registering your phone number with Whatsapp again.”

Under it you will see ‘ENABLE.’ Click on it or touch it. You will be directed to another pop up.

STEP 6 ) In this new pop up you will see the following, “Enter a 6 digit PIN that you’ll be asked for when you register your phone number with Whatsapp.”

Type in the 6 digit number you intend using as password to open it whenever it is locked. When you are done click the ‘NEXT’ under the pop up to continue.

Note, its not advisable to use your date of birth because it can easily be gotten by anyone. It is also hackers first guess when they want to crack your password.

STEP 7 ) Another pop up asking you to ‘Confirm your PIN’ will come up. Enter the 6 digits pin you entered in the previous pop up, and click or touch ‘NEXT’ under after you have inputed your 6 digits password, you would be directed to the next step which is another pop up.

STEP 8 ) This pop up will require you input your email adress. The one u registered with the phone or your most active email. You can skip it if you dont have an email or you dont feel like including your email by touching or clicking the skip option on the pop up.

If you include your email, you will be directed to another pop up requiring that you confirm your email. Type in your email adress again and touch or click on the ‘SAVE’ provided under the pop up. When you are done with this, a pop up will appear informing you that ‘Two Step verification is enabled. Click on or touch the ‘DONE’ under it. You are good. Your Whatsapp has been protected from hackers.

How To Protect Whatsapp From Fraudsters And Hackers…
NOTE: You will be required to input your 6 digits password from time to time as you make use of your Whatsapp, most especially when you close the app and come back to re-use it

How To Protect Whatsapp From Fraudsters And Hackers…

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