Fake WhatsApp calls and messages are on the rise from international numbers in India. People are randomly receiving calls from Ethiopia (+251), Malaysia (+60), Indonesia (+62), Kenya (+254), Vietnam (+84) and other countries. The scammers are targeting Indians by offering them lucrative jobs at prestigious organisations with little or no effort.
In most cases, the scam on WhatsApp begins with scamsters offering people to complete a small task for a "reward" in form of cash. Once they receive funds on basis of the reward people tend to trust their employer and that is when they start to con people.
Recently Zerodha founder Nithin Kamath shared how his friend lost Rs 5 lakh in a fraud via WhatsApp.
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"Someone I know got scammed & lost money. It started with a response to a part-time job offer on WhatsApp. The first few tasks were about leaving fake reviews for resorts & restaurants in random places like Peru. ~Rs 30k was transferred to the bank for the tasks completed," Kamath wrote on Twitter.
Many people took to Twitter to share their experience of getting fake WhatsApp calls from international numbers.
Meanwhile, these calls start with international calling codes but that does not mean that they origin from that country because WhatsApp calls are transmitted via internet and anybody can call from such numbers irrespective of their location.
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