WhatsApp is introducing new features to help users identify and protect themselves from scams on its messaging service. The company also announced that it has removed over 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts linked to criminal scam centers targeting people worldwide. These new tools are designed to detect scams in both group and individual chats on the Meta-owned platform. For group chats, WhatsApp is launching a safety overview feature. This will be displayed when someone who is not in your contact list adds you to a new group that you may not recognize. The overview will provide important details about the group, along with safety tips. For example, you will be able to see if the person who added you is one of your contacts and if any other member of the group is also in your contacts. Until you decide you want to remain in the group, notifications from the chat will be muted. For individual chats, WhatsApp is testing new ways to alert users before they begin a conversation with someone who might be trying to scam them. The app is working to caution users when they start a chat with an unknown contact by providing additional context about who they are messaging, helping them make a more informed decision.
Disrupting Organized Scams
WhatsApp also shared details about its collaboration with OpenAI to disrupt scam efforts that were traced back to a criminal center in Cambodia. The company explained that these scams included a variety of tactics, from offering payments for fake likes to enticing people into pyramid schemes or cryptocurrency investments. According to WhatsApp, the scammers used OpenAI’s ChatGPT to create initial text messages with a link to a WhatsApp chat. From there, victims were quickly directed to Telegram, where they were given a task like liking videos on TikTok. After building trust by sharing how much the target had “earned,” the scammers would then ask for a deposit of money into a crypto account as a “next task.”
Tips for User-Led Protection
WhatsApp provides several tips to help users protect themselves from scams. The company advises users to pause and think before responding, question if the request makes sense, and verify a sender’s identity through another method of communication if they claim to be a friend or family member.
Author’s Opinion
The introduction of these new anti-scam features on WhatsApp is a necessary and welcome development, but it also underscores the ever-escalating sophistication of online fraud. The partnership with OpenAI to dismantle a scam operation is a powerful example of how the tech industry is being forced to collaborate to counter these threats. However, the onus of protection still largely falls on the user, as highlighted by WhatsApp’s own safety tips. In a world where AI is now a tool for both fighting and enabling scams, the line between a helpful feature and a dangerous exploit is thinner than ever. This reactive cycle of feature-rollout and scam-evolution suggests that achieving a truly secure digital environment is a continuous and complex battle, not a one-time fix.
Featured image credit: Freepik
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