A WhatsApp user, hailing from Mumbai, is hit by a sinister new hack that duped all her friends listed on the messaging app to transfer Rs 2,500 in a PayTm account.
WhatsApp account of Journalist Komal Panchamatia, 30, has been reportedly hacked, stealing all her data, including contacts, videos and pictures available on her WhatsApp.
According to a report by the DNA, the malware appears to come from one of her friends wishing her a Happy New Year. In a statement to DNS, a cyber-crime officer, taking charge of the case, explained that the hacker had sent Panchamatia two messages. The first was wishing her a New Year, while in the second message the hacker requested her to copy a text message and forward it to him through WhatsApp.
The cyber-police personnel said the second message Panchamatia received contained a six-digit code and a link that WhatsApp sends to a user whenever they want to activate their account on another device.
According to the cyber-crime official, the hacker traced the six-digit code of Panchamatia’s WhatsApp account using a malware he injected in the second message, and activated her account on a different handset.
"After activating Panchamati account on another device, the hacker managed to gain access to her contact, photos and videos available on her WhastApp. Later, the hacker used her WhatsApp, impersonating Panchamatia, asked her friends to deposit Rs 2,500 in a PayTm account. A friend of Panchamatia deposited the asked amount in the given PayTm account and informed her. This was when Panchamatia realised that her WhatsApp has been hacked,” official said.
“My friend later posted on various social media platforms that my WhatsApp account had been hacked after which the culprit deactivated the number on WhatsApp,” Panchamatia told DNA.
The police have managed to recover Panchamatia’s WhatsApp account, and have started tracking the PayTm accout and the number used to hack her WhatsApp.
