A WhatsApp scam spreads through messages that ask you to “vote” for a friend in an online contest. The link leads to a WhatsApp-looking flow that tricks you into linking your account to a device controlled by the attacker. Once linked, the attacker can read messages and impersonate you to scam your contacts.
Mirage safely runs attacks like this one against your own team, so you find out what happens before a real adversary does.
You get a WhatsApp from a friend: “Hey, can you vote for my cousin in this contest?” Looks harmless, right? But the link doesn’t go to a voting page. It jumps into a WhatsApp-looking wa.me flow that pushes you to ‘continue’ or ‘connect’ your WhatsApp. Some versions even tell you: “open WhatsApp, go to Connected or Linked Devices, and enter this code.” That quietly links the scammer’s device to your WhatsApp so they can read and send messages as you. If a contact asks you to vote and you see any ‘verify, connect, or link your WhatsApp’ step, stop. Message them back on a different channel to confirm before you touch anything.
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Attackers hijack WhatsApp accounts by sending a message from a compromised contact asking the recipient to “vote” in an online contest. Instead of a real voting page, victims are guided into linking the attacker’s device to their WhatsApp account, giving the attacker ongoing access to read and send…
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