Beware of new WhatsApp scam that tries to hack your account!

• Messages requesting WhatsApp account verification codes are sent to the victims from contacts.

Beware of suspicious WhatsApp messages even if they are sent by someone from your contact list.

There's a new WhatsApp scam doing the rounds, wherein messages requesting WhatsApp account verification codes are sent to the victims from contacts, probably whose accounts have been compromised.The Singapore Police Force warned on Wednesday about recent cases of people who lost access to their WhatsApp accounts which had been taken over by scammers, according to reports in Straits Times. Once the victims send the verification codes to the scammers, they would lose access to their WhatsApp accounts.

In other scams reported overseas, compromised accounts are used to deceive account holders' contacts into purchasing gift cards and sending over passwords for the cards. These gift cards were then sold online.

The police have since advised people to be careful of unusual requests received over WhatsApp, even if they are from contacts.
How to stay safe?

People who receive such suspicious messages should always call their contacts to verify the authenticity of the requests, said the police.

Besides, users can protect their WhatsApp accounts by enabling the 'Two-step Verification' feature, which is found under 'Account' in the 'Settings' tab of the WhatsApp application.