As you may be aware, one of our members had their Whatapp hacked. This resulted in a hacker using an Iranian (+98) mobile phone number, to enter our community and groups, which gave them access to our members admin rights. As a result, took the Indoor-climbing group out of the community. IF YOU ARE STILL IN THIS GROUP PLEASE LEAVE IT URGENTLY. This is the only group you need to leave. I have recreated with Indoor-climbing group which is within the community of which I am the administrator.
Between us we managed to remove “The Iranian” and our hacked member from all the WhatsApp groups.
A number of us also received this message “Sorry, I accidently sent you a 6- digit code via SMS, can you forward it to me? Its urgent”. If you receive this message DONT RESPOND.
What can we do to improve WhatsApp security?
I have currently turned on “approve new members” for the groups I can. If you are a group admin, please consider doing likewise. Consider who you are approving. Do we know who they are?
I will endeavour to announce names of prospective and new member, so you know who is in the club.
Please consider making your name visible (or a pseudonym) so we can identify you as a real person. Go to settings, tap on your name and edit.
Consider setting up two-step verification – go to settings, account, two-step verification to set up.
Be vigilant, and let us know if you spot anything suspicious.
Lorna