Last updated on November 20, 2024

Names and places mentioned herein are hypothetical.


Kamal was excited about the upcoming elections. He had retired from work, and politics had become his favorite hobby. He was very active during the previous presidential election. Kamal would often listen to political debates on YouTube and follow political pages on Facebook. One day, as he was returning home from his yoga class, he received a WhatsApp message. The message invited him to an online meeting organized by a major political party that was contesting in the upcoming elections.

Hello Kamal
The xxxx pocket meeting in Bolawalana, Negambo will take place online today.
Meeting link aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.
Please Join at 6PM tomorrow

Kamal had attended many in-person meetings before, but this was his first time joining an online meeting. He was really looking forward to it on the next day.

When the day arrived, Kamal joined the meeting at the scheduled time. As soon as he clicked the link, he received a phone call. The person on the other end told him that he would receive a code, and once he shared it, he would be let into the meeting. Without thinking twice, Kamal shared the code.

Within a minute, Kamal realized he could no longer access his WhatsApp. After several unsuccessful attempts to log in, he called one of his friends. His friend searched online for a solution and contacted Hithawathi.

Kamal then called Hithawathi, who explained that he had fallen for a scam. Hithawathi also gave Kamal useful self-serve tools on how to recover his WhatsApp account.

Precaution tips:

  1. Never share your registration code or two-step verification (OTP / PIN) with others.
  2. Refer https://www.hithawathi.lk/help-centre/social-media/whatsapp/whatsapp-hacking/, if you face WhatsApp hacking.
  3. Enable two-step verification and provide an email address in case you forget your PIN. Visit https://youtu.be/iNI0sRTrWBk?si=lD7cLjCkUgj3xtYY to obtain further information on securing your WhatsApp account.