A new and sophisticated scam is trying to steal your account - without having any way to pay it back • That's what crooks do, and that's how you can easily defend yourself

• Photo by EPA

"Anyone who can call without asking questions, an emergency!", Is what was written along with a particular phone number in a recent message in various watsap groups. However, this is a sophisticated method with which you can take control of your account - without being able to recover it.

Ido Naor revealed the fraud, which occurs once in a while, at Kaspersky Israel. "I haven't checked in depth, but basically the attacker's request to call the number is for the number 'markup'. A victim who rushed to call may also be mistaken for judgment and fall victim to the rest of the chain of attack (very likely), "he explains.

Naor explains that this time the breach is being done in a more sophisticated way and is assisted by the voicemail. While the victim is calling the number distributed in the WhatsApp group, attackers will try to reset his account with a call to his number - arriving at the exact same moment he is on the call. So basically the call from WatSap along with the code that was said to go to the voicemail, where they can break through easily.

"When the number is stored in the voicemail, the attacker must make a call to the voicemail. This can be done very simply - add the 1515 digits and then the victim number to reach the victim's voicemail from any attacker's phone, "he explains. "Except for the call you make to the attacker, there's a reasonable chance you won't feel anything wrong. The timing of the attacker's calls will mask the call from Watsap and the voicemail attack will be completely transparent to the victim. "

So what to do to avoid the assault? Enlightened indicates that changing your password will not make you immune. What you can do is disable the voicemail if possible (a simple operation that can be performed on the various cellular companies' site), and at the same time enable 2-step verification in the app, so that you have to enter a password to connect.

How does verification work? Go to the app, click "Settings", "Account", then "2-step verification". Cases of takeover of Wattsap accounts have gained momentum in the last two years, but even in the case of switching between cellular devices or smartphone theft, 2-step verification may be helpful and the password can be easily changed.