Complaints pour in about WhatsApp profile hacking in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The city cops are getting complaints — at least two formal complaints and several online ones — about hacking of WhatsApp profiles.

Cops have shared the step-by-step modus operandi and the example of a woman from Alipore who was charged a fortune in ransom to get her profile back a few months ago. Most victims of this fraud are usually job aspirants who can be convinced to join group calls and share OTPs thinking they have been generated during the interview process, sources said.
Cops said victims usually get a call from an unknown number on a topic prevalent online, an interview or issues like IT returns, vaccinations, IPL or bank-related issues. “Simultaneously, fraudsters initiate the WhatsApp registration process for the target number. Call-based WhatsApp activation option is selected and the victim is asked to merge the call,” a cop explained.
The victim is called up separately and asked to share an OTP and the account gets compromised. Often victims share the OTPs thinking they are not connected to WhatsApp. Once the OTP is handed over, it becomes easy for fraudsters to activate the account and the victim is logged off his/her account. The accused then threatens the victims with making their WhatsApp chat public to extort money. “They demand anything between Rs 2,000 and Rs 20,000,” an officer said.
“My mother also got such a message but deleted that .... thanks KP,” Debdutta Guha, a WhatsApp user, wrote on social media.