Fraudsters are out to trick WhatsApp social media users into revealing their bank details when replying to a spoof subscription.
Thousands of fake messages are going out to WhatsApp account holders asking them to renew their 99p a year subscription – only the service is free.
The membership charge was scrapped in 2016 after the service was swallowed in a £11.4 billion buyout by Facebook.
Anyone receiving the message should hit delete straight away in case the message also carries malware that will infect a smartphone or tablet.
Then, carry out a security check with antivirus software.
Alert for bogus sign up
The message is simple to spot and carefully written not to attract attention. This is what it says:
Source: Action Fraud
The link takes duped users to a bogus web page operated by the fraudsters that is designed to collect their personal and bank details.
The scam is the second to hit WhatsApp.
WhatsApp Gold tricksters
Recently, the massaging app targeted Android phone and tablet users into downloading a bogus upgrade called WhatsApp Gold.
Users were sent a message from the scammers offering an exclusive chance to download a special version of the social media app that had free add-ons for making video calls and sending 100 images at the same time.
Like the current scam, the message had a link to a fake web site which tried to download malware onto their devices when they tried to load the upgraded.
The message claimed the secret upgrade was only normally available to celebrities, but other users could join by invitation only.