The National Telecommunication & Information Technology Security Board (NTISB) has issued a letter to the government officials about hacking of the WhatsApp accounts in Pakistan, which a few government officials have also been victim to.
It was reported that a verification SMS is being sent to people, to which after they tap, takes access to their personal chats. The message asks receivers to click on a link and insert the verification code in the text. After doing so, the user receives a call from an international number starting from ‘001’. This call will then transfer the user’s ID and WhatsApp data to the hackers.
The letter advises the government officials to ignore the code verification message unless it is triggered by the subscriber themselves.
This hacking technique has helped a lot of criminals to get into the accounts of government officials and influential individuals
The letter advises that when WhatsApp is installed on a device, the application sends you a verification code to check if you are the owner of the phone number and it is done automatically. However, in this case, the scammers are sending the messages. If you click the link, you are confirming that it is you on behalf of the scammer.
The letter further instructs:
If you think your data has been compromised, you can send an email with all the required information to asntisb2@cabinet.gov.pk.
It was reported that a verification SMS is being sent to people, to which after they tap, takes access to their personal chats. The message asks receivers to click on a link and insert the verification code in the text. After doing so, the user receives a call from an international number starting from ‘001’. This call will then transfer the user’s ID and WhatsApp data to the hackers.
The letter advises the government officials to ignore the code verification message unless it is triggered by the subscriber themselves.
This hacking technique has helped a lot of criminals to get into the accounts of government officials and influential individuals
The letter advises that when WhatsApp is installed on a device, the application sends you a verification code to check if you are the owner of the phone number and it is done automatically. However, in this case, the scammers are sending the messages. If you click the link, you are confirming that it is you on behalf of the scammer.
The letter further instructs:
- Don’t click the link.
- Don’t use any code received from any number from your contact list.
- Don’t receive any international calls in case you have mistakenly entered the code
If you think your data has been compromised, you can send an email with all the required information to asntisb2@cabinet.gov.pk.