WhatsApp scams: what you need to know

With 3 billion active monthly users, WhatsApp is truly the world’s most popular messenger app. Acquired by Facebook in 2014 for an astronomical $21.8 billion, the app has since grown from an alternative to SMS to the world’s top choice for instant messaging. 

With such a lavish user base and endless opportunities to devise fake personas, scammers also take to this messenger, where they play out their various tactics to trick victims into sending money or sharing sensitive personal information.

In this guide, we share the most common scams on WhatsApp so you know what to expect—and avoid—along with the steps to protect yourself from scammers and stay safe.

Are WhatsApp scams real?

WhatsApp scams are real and increasingly common, with thousands of WhatsApp users filing cyber fraud complaints every month. In the UK alone, WhatsApp impersonation scams surged by 2000% between 2020 and 2021, according to Lloyds Bank. Even though WhatsApp is not a scamming app by itself and is generally safe to use, it’s still a major hotspot of phishing and impersonation scams, among others.

These scams are also evolving, embracing new technology such as AI voice impersonation and operating at scale. As WhatsApp becomes the primary way of communicating with family members, friends, and businesses for billions of users worldwide, scammers exploit their reliance on the app and target them in both petty and highly damaging schemes. 

8 common types of WhatsApp scams

Learn to recognize the following most popular scam scenarios on WhatsApp to keep safe and avoid losing money or getting locked out of your digital accounts.

“Hi mum” scams

“Hi mum” is one of the most common variations of WhatsApp impersonation scams, where scammers pretend they’re the target’s child with a broken phone and some urgent need for money to foot a bill or pay for rent. The “child” will be contacting the victim via their “friend’s” phone and inventing all sorts of excuses to avoid making a call.

If you receive any such messages, contact your child via a different channel and verify this story, which in 99% of cases is likely to be fake anyway. Stop communicating with the impersonator right away, block and report them.

WhatsApp takeover scams

These scams include multiple scenarios of scammers tricking users into sharing their six-digit verification codes, and then gaining unauthorized access to their WhatsApp accounts and locking the real account owners out. Scammers can pretend to be a friend, a loved one or even a parent of their child’s classmate and devise a story of why they need the person’s verification code. They then take over the victim’s WhatsApp account to further target their contacts with the goal to profit from them.

If anyone asks for your verification code for any reason, it’s a major red flag. Never share your verification codes and report the sender.

WhatsApp Gold or Plus scams

Up to 2016, WhatsApp was available on subscription. Even though the service is free now for individual use, scammers still target users with messages impersonating WhatsApp and asking them to pay to access the application or its particular “Gold” or “Plus” tier unlocking bonus features.

If you ever get this message, block and report the sender, as there’s no such thing as paid WhatsApp tiers for individual use. WhatsApp generates most of its revenue through their business customers and doesn’t charge non-commercial users.

Romance and dating scams

The catfishing scam is common on any messaging or social media platform, and WhatsApp is no exception. A scammer will develop a close relationship with their target, often avoiding video calls and meeting in person. They also typically cancel the date at the last minute because of some emergency that requires their attention—and money they claim not to have. The romance scammer on WhatsApp will use this story to ask for money for themselves or their “friend” or “family member” in need, and then disappear for good once you submit.

If you find yourself in this situation, don’t fall for emotional manipulation and stay cool-headed. If someone asks for money or a favor while avoiding showing their true identity, it’s a major red flag.

Crypto and investment scams

Crypto scams on WhatsApp run rampant as scammers usually exploit the hottest topic of the day to make their traps more alluring. Both crypto and broader investment scams promise incredibly high returns, while scammers pose as successful investors or financial advisors with a history of proven “wins.” 

They may ask their victims to join a trading group and send a small upfront investment to test the waters, and then ask for bigger investments. In the end, the victim will find it impossible to withdraw their money due to exorbitant fees or technical glitches, or the scammer will just take the money and disappear.

If you get a message with unsolicited investment advice or an offer, ignore it and block the sender. Remember that too-good-to-be-true offers are scammers’ bread and butter and never bring any profit for anyone except scammers themselves.

Online marketplace scams

Scammers love online marketplaces like Poshmark or Facebook Marketplace because they can exploit users’ active interest in selling or buying there. Their key tactic is to take the conversation to WhatsApp to avoid the marketplace’s buyer protection and security policies, and then use the anonymity of WhatsApp to scam the victim. They typically use payment scams, accidentally “overpaying” for the purchase, sending you fake payment confirmation screenshots, or requiring an upfront deposit for the item that doesn’t exist. 

Their exploits are diverse, but you should learn to recognize these common scenarios and never ever take your communication off the marketplace platform.

Impersonation scams from unknown numbers

Impersonation is perhaps the broadest category of scams on WhatsApp. Scammers pose as friends, relatives, WhatsApp technical support, celebrities, well-known businesses, banks, or government authorities. What they would typically want from you is to send them money under a false pretense or share your verification code, account credentials, or credit card data. Some messages may also contain links or attachments that hide phishing and malware, and in other cases, you may be bombarded with WhatsApp spam calls.

It’s a good practice to never trust unknown contacts, even if they pose as someone you may know. In case of unsolicited job offers or notifications from official bodies, know that no legitimate organization asks for sensitive personal information or payments to guarantee employment. Never click on links or download attachments in such messages. 

Phishing links and malware

In a version of impersonation scams, fraudsters will try to trick you into clicking a spoof link or downloading an attachment that looks legitimate but in reality leads to stealing your personal information or installing malware on your device. This malware may be used to access and steal data on your phone, record your passwords, and take over your accounts. 

Such links and attachments allegedly come from trustworthy contacts—banks, digital services, or WhatsApp itself, like in the example below:

In some cases, phishing messages claim you’ve won a prize in a lottery or a giveaway, or that you can claim some exclusive feature of a digital product you’re using. 

Whenever you receive a message from an unknown contact containing a link or an attached file, pause and think. Phishing messages often contain misspelled and weird-looking URLs, exploit urgency (“Claim your money now!”) or imitate official businesses. Never interact with such links and attachments, and don’t fall for quick money offers.

Why do scammers use WhatsApp?

To put it short, scammers use WhatsApp because it’s easy, hard to police, and takes little effort to slide into their victims’ DMs.

As most people use the messenger to communicate with their family or friends, many users let their guard down and trust the messages they get, especially when coming from someone they assume they know.

On WhatsApp, you can contact anyone just by knowing (or randomly entering) their phone number, unless the person restricts who may contact them. There are no pending friend or message requests, so scammers can start interacting with their victims right away. There is no identity verification either, so scammers find it easy to impersonate others just by using their stolen profile image.

Due to end-to-end message encryption on WhatsApp, scammers can also operate with a sense of privacy.  Even when their accounts are blocked, they can easily set up new profiles to resume their exploits. 

All of this makes WhatsApp users ideal targets for scammers and fraudsters. Anyone using the app should stay extra vigilant and apply a zero-trust approach even to someone they think they know. 

How to identify a scammer on WhatsApp?

Scammers on WhatsApp always invent new tactics, but there are still common signs that can betray bad actors—above all, exploiting trust, urgency, and lack of verification.

As a rule of thumb, scammers typically send out messages related to quick profit, gambling, investment, loans, employment, prizes, lotteries, discount codes, or coupons. If you see any of that, avoid interacting with the sender and the contents of their messages.

There are also certain ways scammers construct their messages: they may contain grammatical errors and typos, use urgency to make you rush your decisions, and offer you something that is too good to be true or appeals to your emotions. Often, scammers may explicitly ask you to trust them or even start threatening and coercing you into sending money to avoid some kind of consequence.

Never interact with messages that ask you to:

• Tap on a link or download anything
• Enter your personal information on a third-party site
• Pay for using WhatsApp features
• Forward a message
• Share a verification code for any reason

Unfortunately, there are no WhatsApp scammer lists available as scammers’ accounts are spreading like wildfire. Still, government agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission in the U.S. and ActionFraud in the UK process consumers’ fraud reports that help to identify and prevent scammers from doing more harm.

Is it safe to open WhatsApp messages from unknown numbers?

It’s safe to open WhatsApp messages from unknown numbers, but you should still exercise caution. If the message looks suspicious, don’t forward it, click any links, or download any files contained in it, even if they look legitimate. In this case, the best way to proceed is to block the sender and delete the chat. You can also report the sender to alert WhatsApp about this suspicious account. 

What to do if you’ve been targeted by WhatsApp scammers

When contacted by an unknown number, you have options to either block or add the person to your contacts. WhatsApp will display certain signals next to the sender’s profile card, alerting you if their phone number is registered in a different country or if you are members of the same groups. 

If someone pretends to be a person known to you, verify their identity by asking a personal question or suggesting a video call. The way they react to this can tell you a lot about whether they’re really who they claim they are.

If you suspect a scam, do not interact with the sender in any way:

• Don’t forward their message
• Don’t click on links or download files they share with you
• Don’t reply, or hang up if they’re calling you

You can choose to report and block the sender to stop receiving messages from this number. In some cases, WhatsApp also bans reported users.

Steps to take if you’ve been scammed

If you’ve become a victim of a WhatsApp scam involving your finances, contact your banking provider to cancel the transaction or deactivate your payment card (if it was used), and report the scam. 

If you believe your personal information is in the wrong hands and can be exploited to steal your identity, report the case to IdentityTheft.gov and subscribe to an identity protection service for credit, home title, and dark web monitoring.

In all cases, report the scammer to WhatsApp and take extra steps to secure your WhatsApp account through two-step verification.

How to protect yourself from WhatsApp scams

There are two directions you can take to protect yourself from WhatsApp scams: securing the application itself to prevent unauthorized access to it, and adopting  anti-scam best practices to curb scammers’ exploits.

Use WhatsApp securely

• Review your WhatsApp security settings to manage who can contact you and see information about you, such as your profile photo.
  
• Enable two-step verification by setting up a secure PIN.
  
• Disable auto downloading for media.
  
• If you can, avoid posting your real photograph as a profile image, and don’t use your full name as your WhatsApp username.
  
• Regularly monitor your WhatsApp activity and linked devices for signs of anything you don’t recognize. Hackers may link their device to your WhatsApp account to get access to it, or re-register your account on their device if they get access to your sign-in verification code. 

Adopt anti-scam best practices

• Never share sign-in verification codes with anyone.
  
• Never interact with suspicious messages—delete them, then block and report the sender.
  
• If someone pretends to be your friend or relative, suggest a video call or verify the information they share by contacting the person via a different channel.
  
• Educate yourself on the common signs of scams, in particular phishing and smishing (the text- message-based variation of phishing) to stop scammers in their tracks.
  
• Remove your personal information from the internet so scammers have a hard time finding your contact details and targeting you with their fraudulent scheme.

How Onerep helps you stay safe online

Onerep is a privacy protection tool that minimizes the information available about you online. This way, it safeguards you from targeted scams, particularly those rooted in data leaks, impersonation and social engineering—on WhatsApp and beyond.

Onerep removes your personal information, including full name, home address, phone number, public records and more, from data brokers and people-search websites, so you don’t have to go through this effort-intensive process manually. It also monitors this data for reappearance and keeps your sensitive details off fraudsters’ radar.

Combined with best practices for using WhatsApp securely, Onerep offers a layered defense, making it harder for scammers to discover your account and plot any convincing story using information related to your family, friends, job or interests.

Try out Onerep

FAQs

Is WhatsApp a scamming app?

No, WhatsApp is not a scamming app itself, but it’s popular with scammers who take advantage of its multi-billion user base, ease of communication, and lack of identity verification. This allows bad actors to impersonate known contacts, exploit unaware users’ trust, and manipulate them into sending money or sharing personal information.

How to track a scammer on WhatsApp?

There’s no sure way to track scammers on WhatsApp, but you can block and report suspicious accounts if you believe they’re scammers. There is no public list of such reported accounts either. Yet, if you encounter a scammer, it helps to make it known to your friends and a broader public via forums like Reddit.

Why do I get WhatsApp spam calls?

Your phone number might have been leaked in a data breach or posted on a public data broker site. To avoid unsolicited calls and messages, remove your information from data brokers using Onerep, and block messages from unknown contacts in your WhatsApp privacy settings.

What should I do if someone asks about my WhatsApp verification code? 

Never share your verification codes, even with WhatsApp. You should also be cautious about messages that impersonate WhatsApp texts with verification codes but include links, as this can be a phishing attack. 

Can someone hack my WhatsApp account by messaging me? 

They can if they manipulate you into sharing your WhatsApp verification code. This code lets scammers take over your WhatsApp account and block your access to it, in order to start sending impersonation messages to your contacts. Never share your verification codes with anyone and beware of messages from unknown contacts.

I think I’ve been scammed on WhatsApp. What should I do? 

Stop communicating with the scammer, block and report them immediately. If you shared your financial information or sent any payment, contact your bank or payment card issuer. Enable two-step verification to secure your WhatsApp account and report the scam to your local cybercrime or fraud agency.