WhatsApp users who have received email, text or social messages like the one below, which claim that their subscriptions have expired, are asked to delete them and should not follow the instructions in them. This is because WhatsApp is free and the messages are fakes, created by cyber criminals to trick WhatsApp users into visiting a fraudulent website that will steal their credit card and personal information. Remember, there is no WhatsApp subscription.
A Sample of the "Whats!App Subscription Expired" Phishing Scam
From: Whats!App <customer@villa.edu>
Date: 4 September 2017 at 13:59:54 BST
Subject: Whats!App Subscription Expired code: 043216657
Whats!App Subscription Expired
Hello,
WhatsApp is free to use for the first year.
Once the free one - year trial period ends,
there is an annual subscription fee of £0.89 GBP.
Click here to subscribe and continue using our app.
Thank you for supporting Whatsapp.
WhatsApp users who have already been tricked by the fraudulent email messages are asked to contact their banks for help. They should let their banks know that they have unknowingly used their credit cards on a fraudulent website operated by cyber criminals.