Now it has happened: hackers have apparently stolen the unbelievable sum of half a billion account data from WhatsApp. In Germany alone, 6 million WhatsApp users are affected. And everyone who used Messenger should now beware.
WhatsApp and Facebook are repeatedly targeted by privacy advocates. Although the parent company Meta always argues with end-to-end encryption, it has long been clear that the company evaluates data on group names, their members, profile names, photos and also IP addresses. And now sensitive data has fallen into the hands of hackers – again. This time it is not Facebook users who suffer, but 500 million WhatsApp users. And now they have to be very careful.
WHATSAPP AND THE BIGGEST DATA SCANDAL OF ALL TIME
A few days ago, on November 16, a user of a well-known hacker forum announced in that same forum that he was selling a database from 2022 with 487 million cell phone numbers from WhatsApp users. Since WhatsApp has around two billion active users worldwide, a quarter of all people who have Messenger installed on their cell phones are affected. As reported by Cybernews , six million cell phone numbers are said to be for sale in Germany alone.
That’s the only good news in the whole WhatsApp scandal. Because apparently it should only go to cell phone numbers. They are allegedly not linked to names, profile pictures or other sensitive data. But there is also bad news. Because: It is not yet possible to say whether your own cell phone number is part of the sales package. While there are services like Have I Been Pwned? “, which can tell if you’ve been hacked by name or cell phone number. But they have probably not yet integrated the data set.
YOU MUST DO THIS NOW
Leaked cell phone numbers could use those who buy them for marketing purposes, phishing , identity theft and fraud. If you are about to receive messages from unknown users and phone numbers on WhatsApp, you should under no circumstances tap on links in the messages. You should also refrain from downloading photos, videos and other files. It’s best if you don’t react at all to messages from a stranger on WhatsApp and block the user.
→ Frightening: WhatsApp knows all this about you
If he is impersonating your mother, father, or another family member who is in need, check beforehand. Call the suspected family member and make sure there really is an emergency. In this article, we will show you how such a trick works . Be vigilant and help non-technical elderly relatives who use WhatsApp to communicate with their grandchildren, for example. Hackers and criminals keep coming up with new ideas that are sometimes difficult to see through.
