Beware of 'friends' asking for security codes on WhatsApp

A growing pool of WhatsApp users have become victims of social hacking, where scammers use already hijacked social media accounts to contact victims by posing as their friends or family.
A growing pool of WhatsApp users have become victims of social hacking, where scammers use already hijacked social media accounts to contact victims by posing as their friends or family. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
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When a secondary school friend contacted him out of the blue a few months ago asking for a verification code on WhatsApp, administrative executive Tan Jun Heng, 25, did not suspect anything was amiss.

His friend simply claimed to have "accidentally" sent the code to his number.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 17, 2020, with the headline Beware of 'friends' asking for security codes on WhatsApp. Subscribe