WhatsApp users are reportedly facing an 'OTP scam': All you need to know

WhatsApp users are reportedly facing an OTP scam, and now that WhatsApp Pay is in India, the scam could prove to be more dangerous than it already is. Hackers often pose as friends to break into another person’s account and get access to their personal information. Currently, fraudulent entities have been doing that same by the way of One Time Passwords (OTP). How are they doing that? Here’s what we know so far about the so-called OTP scam: When a user sets up a WhatsApp account or enables their account on a new smartphone, they are required to enter their mobile number, and for an additional level of security, the platform uses two-factor authentication (2FA) to verify the user. However, scammers are using the OTP for the 2FA as a weapon against WhatsApp users. [caption id=“attachment_7616971” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”]  Representational Image.[/caption] Reportedly, hackers pretend to be friends or family and reach out to users via some other social media or messaging platform and ask for an OTP sent to their phone. The excuse often given is that the friend has been locked out of their account and require your OTP to log in. We have also reached out to WhatsApp to learn more about the ‘OTP scam’. If you do share your OTP, not only will the hacker be able to get access to your personal information on WhatsApp, it will also leave you logged out of your account. WhatsApp does not support multiple-device login. Do note, besides while setting up, WhatsApp never randomly sends you OTP. If you receive an OTP from WhatsApp out-of-the-blue, it’s likely that someone else is trying to set up WhatsApp using your number. In any scenario, you must never share the OTP with anyone. In any event, if you did share the OTP and got locked out of you WhatsApp account, immediately reset your WhatsApp and log in again.