Police Warn Of WhatsApp Zoom Scam

The Bermuda Police Service is alerting the public to a “new WhatsApp scam in which a link is sent to you purportedly from a WhatsApp group you belong to, or one of your WhatsApp contacts, inviting you to attend a Zoom meeting.”

A police spokesperson said, “That link is fictitious and is actually a verification code, which, should you click on it, transfers your WhatsApp account to the scammer’s phone allowing them access to your contacts list.

“These bad actors then pretend to be you and reach out to your contacts, asking them to transfer monies to:

• Chase Bank;
• PayPal accounts;
• U.S. retail store accounts.

“Should you receive such an invitation, please verify with your group admin, or the person who supposedly sent it to you, whether it is in fact from them.

“If it’s not, immediately delete the message from your device.

“In some instances, individuals detecting the attempted fraud, pretend to “play along” with the scammers by not clicking the code, but instead responding to the message sent to them.

“We advise against you doing so as you may well be putting your WhatsApp account at risk of being compromised.”

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