14 DAY TRIAL // A fake Gold Edition version of the popular Whatsapp messaging mobile app is being distributed through social networking websites, promising exclusive features, but in fact it surreptitiously subscribes the victim to premium-rate messaging services.
The fraudulent app has been discovered to affect users in Spain, with the National Police and the Civil Guard in the country issuing alerts about the scam.
It is promoted on Facebook and Twitter under the name of “WhatsApp Edición Oro” to the Spanish users and advertises access to special emoticons and image backgrounds for the mobile devices.
In an attempt to lure in as many victims as possible, the crooks advertise that the app is available for both iOS and Android devices.
It is not clear how the entire scheme works, but according to El Correo, clicking on the download link launches a web page requesting the phone number of the user, for validation purposes. If the information is provided, the user is automatically subscribed to a paid messaging service that charges €1.45 / $1.85 for each text.
Reports about the fraudulent app were issued since the beginning of the month, but it appears that the scam is ongoing, users falling victim to it every day.
Requesting the mobile phone number as well as any other personal information is not practiced by developers in order to provide the download as a piece of software.
These details are generally asked when an account with a service is created and it is clearly specified how they are stored and what purpose they serve.