your number could be among the millions that have been leaked

by time news

WhatsApp It is one of the most widely used applications globally. That is why it is not uncommon for cybercriminals to show interest in phone numbers that use the tool owned by Meta. Cybercriminals have managed to access the phone numbers of about 500 million users of the ‘app’ and they have been put up for sale in a Dark Web forum, according to the specialized media ‘CyberNews’. Among the filtered data are the numbers of ones 11 million Spaniards.

With this information, a cybercriminal could launch malicious campaigns against Internet users aimed at stealing their WhatsApp accounts. With the information it would also be possible to develop attacks through SMS messages (‘smishing’) or telephone calls (‘vishing’) aimed at steal more personal and bank details.

Specifically, cybercriminals published an announcement on November 16 in a forum of the hacking community BreachForums in which a 2022 database with 487 million WhatsApp numbers. The lists would contain contacts registered in 83 countries in addition to Spain, such as the Czech Republic, Ghana, Lithuania, Ecuador, Hungary, Guatemala, Tunisia, Serbia, Cyprus, Turkey, Bulgaria, Puerto Rico or Canada.

According to the list of numbers affected by this attack provided by ‘CyberNews’, in Spain cyber fraudsters they would have stolen a total of 10,894,206 WhatsApp phone numbers, which would place it in fifteenth position among the nations most affected by these attacks. It is unknown how the criminals were able to access all this amount of information.

How to protect yourself

To prevent users from being harmed by this leak, it is essential that they exercise caution and be wary of the system of any SMS, call or WhatsApp that seeks to alert you or invite you to act quickly. Especially when the sender is unknown.

It should be remembered that, normally, when cybercriminals try to attack us using any of these types of channels, they usually pose as a company or public institution. There are also cases in which they take advantage of the account of an acquaintance that they have previously stolen. In these cases, it is common for the cybercriminal to try to gain control of the Internet user’s WhatsApp or another of his tools by requesting a verification code that would arrive by SMS.

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