Try WhatsApp Calling Feature, Message Invite: Hoax

Story:

Hey, I am inviting you to try whatsapp Calling click here to activate now—> http://WhatsappCalling(.)com

Other Versions

Hey, iam inviting you to activate WhatsApp Video Calling.. Activate it from http://www(.)Whatsappcall.co

Picture about Try WhatsApp Calling Feature, Message Invite — Try WhatsApp Calling Feature, Message Invite

Analysis:

These messages in wide circulation on WhatsApp mobile come as an invite to try the new WhatsApp Calling feature, and to activate the same, the recipient is asked to click the link http://WhatsappCalling(.)com that comes with the message. Let us analyze the authenticity of this claim, whether it is really fact or not.

What It Is

Eager WhatsApp mobile users who received this message and believed in it went on to click the link that comes with it. They were taken to a page where they were asked to send the same invite to 10 more friends so as to enable their WhatsApp Calling feature. This way, within minutes the message went viral on WhatsApp. However, the fact of the matter being, no one was able to make any calls.

Picture of The Scam Process — The Scam Process

As per the who is domain information of WhatsappCalling.com, it is registered by some Mohammad Iqbal of California on 4 Mar. 2015 for just one year, without any organization name. Once the user sent the invite to 10 friends, he came to see the ‘Continue’ button active on the page. This is where the trap is; once clicked, it takes you to a site(s) that asks you to take a survey, see advertisements, click on websites, and download apps that may also contain malware or viruses. At the end of it all, the user does not get to see any such WhatsApp Calling feature.

Other Versions

The scam message has lately been circulating in other forms as well, with new website links like Whatsappcall(.)co. In such cases, the users are asked to share the message with 10 other friends and also 3 other groups before being able to install the WhatsApp Video Calling feature (which won’t be there). The domain Whatsappcall.co is registered for one year, with the Tech, Admin and Registrant Names all as ‘Registration Private’. In between the said process, these scam messages can also harvest your mobile numbers and other sensitive information along with spamming your friends.

Remember that app manufacturers like WhatsApp do not generally launch new features by sending cascading messages like this. New features are usually tested through app updates and media announcements. So do not click on the link that comes with the story. Whoever sent you the ‘invite’ is already a victim of the hoax message and is spreading the scam inadvertently. WhatsApp Calling feature has been in the news since a few months now, so scammers and malicious people are taking advantage of this curiosity of users to mint money.

WhatsApp Calling Feature

Most people are craving to have this WhatsApp Calling feature on their smartphones. According to a 24 Feb. 2014 article on mashable.com, WhatsApp Company is currently testing the feature with a “small group” of Android and iOS users. Reportedly, they are planning to offer the free voice calling service later this year in 2015.