Fake WhatsApp Web adverts
Throughout 2023, scammers impersonated friends and family on WhatsApp. They sent messages claiming that their phone was lost or damaged, which ‘explained’ why they weren’t messaging from their normal number. The message typically begins with a generic ‘Hi Mum/Dad’ and asks for money to buy a new phone or to pay an urgent bill (see screenshot below).
In a new version of this scam, criminals place a fake advert for WhatsApp Web in Google search results. This is a genuine tool that lets you use WhatsApp on your computer. To use the real version, you have to type https://web.whatsapp.com into your address bar (1 in our screenshot below right) and scan the QR code 2. Clicking the fake advert takes you to a bogus site imitating WhatsApp, complete with fake QR code.
