Here’s How To Know Your WhatsApp Has Been Hacked – 5 Signs

With nearly three billion users worldwide, it’s no surprise that WhatsApp is a target for hackers. The Facebook-owned app is known for its high level of security. But criminals can still often get in, especially if the user was careless. And when an attacker has successfully hacked a WhatsApp account, it’s possible to wreak havoc, especially through contact list fraud. We’ll take a look at how to spot the warning signs that your WhatsApp account has been hacked, and what you should do to fix the situation if it has.

Is WhatsApp safe from hackers?

In fact, WhatsApp is one of the most secure messaging apps with end-to-end encryption by default, which means that messages are encrypted in transit and can only be read by the sender and recipient.

Meanwhile, users have the option of using two-factor authentication, which allows access to messages only after the recipient enters a PIN. Other security features include the ability to control your privacy settings and block unwanted users, as well as automatic spam detection and proactive security alerts that ask the user to confirm their identity if WhatsApp detects any suspicious or unauthorized attempts to take over your account. However, hackers have a number of methods to bypass this protection, mostly by exploiting user error. These include techniques such as social engineering, web hacking, spyware and call forwarding.

How to check if your WhatsApp is hacked

If your WhatsApp account has been hacked, other accounts and apps may have been hacked if you’ve used your PIN as a password elsewhere. Hackers can also gain access to any connected devices.

There are several signs that your WhatsApp account has been hacked. Probably the most common is strange activity on your account – such as messages from unknown contacts, unread messages being marked as read or receiving unwanted verification codes. Other signs include realizing that an unfamiliar device has logged into your account, changes to your profile information, or even a malfunctioning phone. Sometimes the first you know your WhatsApp has been hacked is a worried message from a friend.

Sign 1: Strange activity

If your WhatsApp account has been hacked, you may notice suspicious activity on your account. No, you did not mess with the program in a dream – this is a sign that hackers are busy with your affairs.

You may start receiving strange messages from people you don’t recognize, or find that unread messages are marked as read, meaning someone checked them before you. There may be messages in your Sent folder that are not from you. Meanwhile, new numbers may appear in your contact list — additional targets for hackers — and random chats may appear unexpectedly. One of the ominous signs that your WhatsApp has been hacked is the appearance of unwanted verification codes.

Symptom 2: Unknown devices have logged into your account

WhatsApp accounts can be accessed on multiple connected devices and detecting unknown is a common sign that your account has been hacked.

What happens here is that a hacker accesses your account through the WhatsApp website on their own device with the aim of accessing your contacts, chats and account information. You can check if unauthorized devices are using your account by opening the app and going to settings, where you’ll see a list of connected devices. If there are any you don’t recognize, you can sign out of your account by simply tapping on them.

Symptom 3: Changed profile details

One extremely surreal discovery when logging into WhatsApp is that your bio has been changed or that your profile picture is no longer of you.

This means that a hacker is trying to use your account to impersonate someone else in a scam. They will contact other WhatsApp users and may change your details to get the desired response from their target.

Symptom 4: Poor phone performance

This sign that your WhatsApp account is hacked is very subtle: Your phone’s performance is low.

Hackers can run hidden apps running in the background, draining the phone’s power for everything else. You may notice that your battery drains much faster than usual or your performance slows down. It may crash, freeze, or be hotter than usual.

Sign 5: messages from friends

Sometimes, especially if you don’t use WhatsApp very often, the notification that your account has been hacked comes as a message from a friend, contact or family member.

They may receive fake messages from you, demand money or personal information, all part of the hacker’s efforts to expand their network and compromise more accounts. A common technique is to try to get your friends and family to send them money under the pretense of an emergency. And if the scammers manage to convince your contacts to click on the fraudulent links, they can also hack their WhatsApp accounts and start the whole process all over again.

What to do if your WhatsApp account is hacked?

Recovering your WhatsApp account is a very simple process. You just need to sign in to WhatsApp with your phone number and re-register by entering the six-digit code that will be sent to you via SMS or phone call.

You can only register one phone number at a time on WhatsApp, which means that once you do, everyone using your account will be automatically signed out. You may also be asked to enter a two-step verification PIN. If you don’t know this, it means the hacker may have enabled two-step verification themselves. In this case, you will have to wait seven days before you can log in without two-step PIN verification.

How to prevent WhatsApp hacking?

Overall, WhatsApp is a secure platform, but there are a few things you can do to protect your account in the future. The first is to enable two-factor authentication.

It’s a good idea to turn on automatic updates, for example, to make sure you have the latest security updates and to install security software on your phone. Be careful what you share – you should never reveal your personal or financial details – and ignore suspicious messages, especially those asking for your six-digit PIN – one of the most common ways LinkedIn accounts are hacked.

Result

There are several signs that your WhatsApp account has been hacked, some more obvious than others. But while it’s never fun to be broke, it’s pretty easy to fix.