WhatsApp is introducing new features to help people spot scams on the messaging service, the company announced on Tuesday. The company also said it has taken down over 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts linked to criminal scam centers targeting people around the world.
The new features are designed to help detect scams in both group and individual chats on the Meta-owned platform.
For group chats, WhatsApp is launching a safety overview feature that will be displayed when someone who isn’t in your contact list adds you to a new group that you may not recognize. The safety overview will include key information about the group, alongside tips to stay safe.
For example, you will see if the person who added you is one of your contacts, and if any member of the group is a contact of yours.
If you decide that you might recognize the group, you can choose to see the chat for more context. Either way, notifications from the chat will be muted until you mark that you want to remain in the group.
As for individual chats, WhatsApp notes that scammers might try to start conversations with you elsewhere on the internet before asking to message on private messaging services like WhatsApp. To protect against this tactic, the app is testing new ways to alert people before they start talking to someone who could be trying to scam them.
For example, it’s working to caution users when they start a chat with someone not in their contacts by showing them additional context about who they’re messaging.
WhatsApp also shared information about how it worked alongside OpenAI to disrupt scam efforts that were traced back to a scam center in Cambodia.
“These attempts ranged from offering payments for fake likes to enlisting others into a rent-a-scooter pyramid scheme, or luring people to invest in cryptocurrency,” WhatsApp explained in a blog post.
“As OpenAI reported, the scammers used ChatGPT to generate the initial text message containing a link to a WhatsApp chat, and then quickly directed the target to Telegram, where they were assigned a task of liking videos on TikTok. The scammers attempted to build trust in their scheme by sharing how much the target has already ‘earned’ in theory, before asking them to deposit money into a crypto account as the next task.”
WhatsApp says users can protect themselves from scams by taking time before responding to think about whether the message reads like a legitimate task. They should then question if the request makes sense and if they’re rushing you into taking action. If they’re claiming to be a friend or family member, you should use another method of communication to verify their identity.
