New WhatsApp scam! Users being tricked into paying for app

WhatsApp is almost always riddled with scams. Now, there’s a new scam circulating on WhatsApp under which users are fooled into paying for a fake subscription fee in order to use the service.

According to Independent, WhatsApp users are being targeted by a message that claims that their app subscription has expired and that they need to pay in order to resume the app’s services.

“Your subscription has expired,” reads the message. “To verify your account and purchase a lifetime subscription for just 0.99 GDP simply tap on this link.”

If you are among those who has received a similar message then you must resist any temptation of forwarding it to other users and block the sender immediately. There are still a lot of people who are unaware of the fact that WhatsApp is free to download and use. Thus, the scam comes across as very convincing as well.

To recall, merely a month back a malicious link was taking the rounds on WhatsApp which promised users with the option of installing WhatsApp in different colours.

As reported by The Next Web first, Reddit user u/yuexist reported a suspicious link that is being shared through WhatsApp among other social media platforms that tricks users into installing malware in their systems.

According to the Reddit user, the link promises users with the option of installing WhatsApp in different colours. After clicking on the link, the user is asked to share the site with his/her friends in order to get themselves verified. After this is done, the friends receive a message that reads, “I love the new colours for WhatsApp,” along with the fake URL.

Most fake URLs, just like the one circulating on the social media platforms right now, consist of letters from the Cyrillic alphabet. This helps users to identify the malicious messages if observed carefully.

As noted by The Independent, WhatsApp’s growing popularity in Europe and India has meant it has gained scammers attention in recent months. The chatting-app is available in over 50 different languages around the world and in 10 different languages in India itself.