WhatsApp video calling rollout paves way for scams: Here's what you should do

Avoid circulating spam messages, as it is the only weapon for hackers to gain victim's trust.

WhatsApp officially has started rolling out its video calling feature to its one billion users around the world. It will be a few days before all users get the new feature. Taking advantage of this, spammers and hackers are luring users into giving away their personal information.

First things first, it is important to know that WhatsApp's video calling rollout is nothing like its voice calling feature, which was a highly-publicised invite-only model. However, those who are not aware of this are likely to fall prey to the online scams making the rounds.

WhatsApp users are receiving a message with a link asking people to join the video calling bandwagon. It is easy to get fooled when such a message comes from your known contacts. The video calling link, which is clearly a spam, looks legitimate.

When the user opens the link, a message is displayed, "You're invited to try WhatsApp Video Calling feature. Only people with the invitation can enable this feature." If you think you are lucky, you are mistaken.

The link redirects the user to a spam site, where it asks for personal information. After successful verification, it then asks the user to invite friends through the same link. Hence, the chain of spamming grows.

This isn't the first instance for such nuisance. When WhatsApp was initially rolling out its voice calling feature, hordes of such scams had come up. But as a reputed company, WhatsApp, users need to know, would not seek unusual methods to roll out new features. So you must wait for the official rollout in the form of an OTA (over-the-air) update.