Whatsapp users have been urged to stay vigilant following reports of a scam putting millions of UK users at risk.
A mother from Coventry alerted parents after she was targeted by WhatsApp criminals.
Kasi Reid was called by a man on the app who claimed to be a part of the parents’ group at her son’s school.
He then sent her a code to access a group on the platform to arrange a Christmas party.
While attempting to join, she noticed the code would have transferred data between their devices, granting the man access to all her in-app details – which she described as “very scary”.
According to Ms Reid, the messaging service contained private details about her son and other family members which would have been exposed if she had followed the instructions of the scammer.
After becoming suspicious during the phone call she eventually hung up, and she now believes that the man was contacting her for malicious reasons.
She found it strange that he had called during the school rush, a time when another parent would likely be unavailable.
Ms Reid said: “He was dependent on me being distracted and me being rushed so I would give him the code.”
The social media giant announced a new triple alert feature to protect against scams earlier this year, meaning that anyone who is added to a group by someone they don’t know has more protections.
Before joining a group, a pop-up notification provides key details, including who added you, when the group was created, and who created it.
These three details can help users become better informed and ideally prevent them from falling for a potential scam.
Martin Richardson, senior partner at National Fraud Helpline, said: ‘If you ever receive a call or message through WhatsApp from someone you don’t know then you need to be incredibly cautious.
‘If that unfamilar person then sends you a link to click, it should ring alarm bells.
‘WhatsApp is used by scammers across the globe so if something unusual takes place take some time to think.
‘There are news WhatsApp scams all the time. We will keep highlighting them as we come across them.’
Have you lost money to a scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.