Click on the link at your peril it's going to try and illicit your personal details, banking details, login credentials, or any other form of data that has value on the dark web. The distinction is important: if a message has been forwarded more than five times, it's almost always going to be a form of spam-whether that's yet another boring meme that's doing the rounds, fake news, or something more sinister.Ī huge part of WhatsApp spam has a single purpose-to try and make you open a link in the message. You'll also see a small warning on the message box itself, letting you know that the message has been 'forwarded many times.' When a message has been forwarded five times, you'll see a double arrow icon rather than the single arrow that denotes a typical forwarded message. However, users might be less aware that WhatsApp has a separate indicator for frequently-forwarded messages.
Most WhatsApp users will be aware that the app lets you forward messages received from one person directly to another recipient (for those who didn't know, long-press a message and tap the forward option on the pop-up menu that appears). Here are our top ways to spot WhatsApp spam, along with some advice on what steps you should take if you receive such a message.
