WhatsApp Ghost Pairing Scam: Government Warns Users, Account Control at Risk

• A new "Ghost Pairing" scam allows fraudsters to take full control of WhatsApp accounts without OTP or password.
• CERT-In, under the Government of India, issued an alert about this dangerous cyber threat.
• The scam uses social engineering, tricking users into activating WhatsApp's "Link a device" feature.
• Victims click a seemingly legitimate link from a known contact, leading to an identity verification page while device linking occurs.
• Unknowingly approving the request grants scammers full access to messages and sending capabilities.

Why It Matters: Be extremely cautious of unknown links, even from trusted contacts, to prevent WhatsApp account hijacking.