WhatsApp has launched new features aimed at improving user security. With these updates, users will be able to preview information about unfamiliar groups and contacts before engaging in conversations.
Now, if a user is invited to a group chat by an unknown contact, they will receive brief details about the chat, including who created it and when, how many participants it has, and whether any of them are saved in the user’s contacts. The app will also warn users about potential scam attempts and offer advice on how to protect themselves.
By default, notifications from unknown group chats will be muted until the user decides to join the group.
Additionally, WhatsApp alerts users that scammers may start conversations outside the app and then move them to private messages within the messenger. To help prevent this, the platform is testing ways to “slow down” users before they respond to unknown contacts by providing additional information about them.
WhatsApp also revealed that, in cooperation with Meta and OpenAI, it helped uncover a scam network operating in Cambodia. Scammers used the app to coordinate “victims” by enticing them with “investments” in cryptocurrency and financial pyramids.
In total, WhatsApp has blocked more than 6.8 million fraudulent accounts in Southeast Asia.
