The much-awaited WhatsApp video calling feature was rolled out earlier this week for iOS, Android, and Windows devices. The new update is now available to download for free on all the three smartphone platforms. But this new release has also invited new scamsters who are trying to scam people and steal their precious information by fooling them.
New malicious links are being circulated by scamsters in WhatsApp groups. These links are being hidden behind fake invites that ask people to click on them and update WhatsApp to get the new video calling feature. These links invite users to get a ‘group video calling’ feature that WhatsApp itself has not released yet.
The new scam invites read: “You’re invited to try WhatsApp Video Calling feature. Only people with the invitation can enable this feature.” If you click on the link, you will be asked to invite more friends to get the group video calling feature. But don’t click on any such links as no such feature has been made available officially in the WhatsApp app.
Just to check, we clicked on “Activate Whatsapp Videocalling” but after that, it asked for “user verification”. We didn’t click further as no one is aware of the severity of scam. We don’t really know the risks that come with these malicious links, but you could end up losing your personal information like photos, contacts, documents, etc. Our advise is to download WhatsApp video calling update only from official app stores and avoid any such links. These links usually direct to domains like ‘whatsapp.activatecalls.co’. Such websites look like the official WhatsApp website, which makes it easier for scamsters to fool people.
So spread this message to all your contacts and warn them of the new WhatsApp group calling scam invites. Share this post and stay tuned for further updates.