WHATSAPP has warned users to watch out for a new in-app alert over a sinister trick cyber crooks are using to steal people’s money.
The popular messaging app has more than three billion users worldwide making it a prime target for scammers.
Elderly adults are particularly vulnerable to attack.
An estimated 1.8 million over-65s in the UK were scammed online in the past year losing £831 on average, recent research by Virgin Media suggests.
Meanwhile in the US, those aged 60 and over lost a combined $4.8billion to fraud in 2024 alone, according to the FBI’s 2024 Internet Crime Report.
As such, Meta – which owns WhatsApp – says it introducing a number of new features to warn people.
The tech giant also owns Facebook and Instagram, where almost eight million accounts have been detected for criminal scam behaviour.
Customer support fakes continues to be a key problem, with more than 21,000 Facebook pages and accounts found attempting to trick people into sharing their information.
One profitable tactic used by fraudsters is getting people to share their screen on WhatsApp.
When used properly this is a popular feature for showing friends and family anything you see on your phone’s screen.
But in the hands of scammers it’s a goldmine, allowing them to take note of any sensitive information you may not realise is on show and even convincing people to install dangerous apps that can be used to raid bank accounts.
To combat this, you’ll start to notice a new alert on WhatsApp.
This pops up whenever you attempt to share your screen with an unknown contact during a video call.
“We know scammers may pressure their targets to share their screen to trick people into giving away sensitive information including bank details or verification codes,” Meta says.
“With this new tool we give our users more context to spot and avoid scams.”
The alert reads: “Only share your screen with people you trust.”
Meta is also working on more advanced scam detection for Facebook Messenger too.
AI will be used to review messages and warn users if it looks like it’s a scam.
“Cross-border criminal networks continue to operate at scale globally and use sophisticated schemes to target people — including older adults — across many industries through messaging, dating apps, social media, crypto, and other apps,” Meta explained.
“We continue to look for and block attempts by criminal syndicate-run scam centers to create accounts on our platforms.”
What to do if you think you’ve been scammed
IF you’ve lost money in a scam, contact Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or by visiting Actionfraud.police.uk.
You should also contact your bank or credit card provider immediatley to see if they can stop or trace the cash.
If you don’t think your bank has managed your complaint correctly, or if you’re unhappy with the verdict it gives on your case you can complain to the free Financial Ombudsman Service.
Also monitor your credit report in the months following the fraud to ensure crooks don’t make further attempts to steal your cash.
