A Romanian Police Inspectorate has warned WhatsApp users that they may be targeted by a phishing scam aimed at making them reveal some of their data.

More specifically, the victim receives a message asking to "verify" the account data in order to continue to benefit from the free service.

“The WhatsApp application will cost USD 0.01 for every message sent. You need to confirm your profile to continue to use this service for free! Activate your profile here,” is the message that also contains a link. (picture of the original message in Romanian below).

Thus, citing information from the Romanian National Computer Emergecy Readiness Team (CERT-RO), the Dambovita Police Inspectorate (IPJ Dambovita) urges WhatsApp users to ignore such messages and avoid accessing the links they may contain.

Those who have accessed the link received through such a message were eventually redirected to a website where they can subscribe to a service that, as announced on that site, “offers unlimited access to a portal of wallpapers, emoticons, and many other fun mobile content.”

The Police remind citizens that WhatsApp is a free service. Also, it recommends people to be suspicious if they receive a text message or a phone call from a company that requests their personal data, to never click on a link included in a text message or mail they were not expecting, and to install an antivirus.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com