WhatsApp users are being warned about a scam that sees hackers trying to steal vast sums of money.
WhatsApp users have been warned of a scam that could cost users thousands of pounds.
The scheme sees nefarious hackers “cloning” leading investment firms to take users’ cash.
The scam often starts with users being added to fake WhatsApp groups, emails or websites and the scammers make it look as if they were created by a trustworthy investment company.
As they pretend to invest someone’s money, the scammers can duplicate details and steal money.
Experts found that one in four of the attempts were successful and that an astonishing £2.7 million had been lost through the scam.
In all, almost 500 “cloning” attempts were recorded by the Investment Association alone.
Financial crime expert Adrian Hood said: “The growth of AI is likely to see increasingly sophisticated scams, with criminals better able to mimic legitimate firms.”
Last year, £1.7 million was recovered from scammers out of a total loss of £5.4 million through fraud.
The development comes after Google issued an urgent warning to users after the tech giant’s reported fraud losses jumped to $12.5 billion in 2024.
The company said in response: “Scammers are more effective and act without fear of punishment when people are uninformed about fraud and scam tactics.”
The scammers can impersonate representatives from respected companies and are targeting those with valuable online assets, as well as social media influencers.
WhatsApp users warned of scam danger
