The PDI is warning about a new technique to hack WhatsApp accounts, called “mailing”, which Senator Ivan Moreira is familiar with. This technique allows criminals to access your WhatsApp data and contacts, which they use to carry out different types of scams. Therefore, it is important to know how this new form of data theft works and what can be done to prevent it.
The “mailing” technique consists of two ways to recover your WhatsApp account data: one is through a text message to your cell phone (which is also not safe from malicious people) and the other is through a call that gives you a verification code. This code is stored in your voicemail, so you can listen to it again if you forget it. However, not only you can access your voicemail, but malicious people can also access it if you do not protect it with a secure password, as the YouTuber Paco Web explains.
Data thieves make a call to your cell phone and keep you on the line, while another person calls at the same time to access your voicemail, which will be available at that time. This gives them access to your mailbox and the ability to listen to the verification code, which they can use to hack your WhatsApp.
To avoid being a victim of “mailing”, Deputy Commissioner Julio Vargas of the PDI Cybercrime Brigade recommends never delivering any verification code, be it WhatsApp or any other platform. He also suggests disabling the voicemail or changing your password, since the voicemail is an old technology and a point of compromise that cybercriminals have detected as vulnerable to extract verification passwords that allow access to the WhatsApp platform.
In addition, the YouTuber Paco Web recommends not answering calls from strangers, as these people verify that it is a valid number when talking to you. He also suggests improving the security key of the voicemail, as a password like “1234” or “1111” is very insecure. To change the voicemail password, you must press and hold 1, then enter #4 and choose the option to change the PIN.
