This brief yet impactful story sheds light on fraudulent schemes and highlights the inaction of WhatsApp's support services.
Among our clientele are numerous individuals involved in the sale of premium goods, often valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. For these sellers, accurate contacts are crucial, as their primary source of income relies on referrals from affluent circles. Consequently, their phone numbers and WhatsApp accounts become invaluable assets.
One such client, a seller of luxury watches in London, recently encountered a scammer who extorted $1,500 from him under the threat of blocking his WhatsApp account. The client refused to yield, and as a result, his account was instantly suspended. The scammer has since demanded $3,000 for its reinstatement.
Investigations have revealed over 30 documented cases with strikingly similar circumstances. This fraudster appears to exploit vulnerabilities within WhatsApp to target sellers of elite products across the UK, aiming to extort ransoms.
What can we expect from WhatsApp in light of this alarming trend? Silence. Denials of account restorations. "You have violated our policies; we cannot restore your account," they assert, despite the clear lack of wrongdoing on the victim's part. It is evident that the scammer employs tactics of mass reporting or other forms of hacking to incapacitate the accounts of unsuspecting users.
WhatsApp management, we urge you to take this pressing issue seriously!