On the messaging app chain messages warning of the return of payments on the service are back in fashion, of course it is a hoax
Every so often, after some periods of calm, on WhatsApp chain letters relating to the payment of the service come back in fashion. Messages such as: "Do you want to continue using WhatsApp for free?" or "from Monday morning WhatsApp will become paid".
First of all, it is mandatory to make a premise: WhatsApp is a free service. Malicious people take advantage of the fact that the application in the past was an annual subscription, but at the moment there is no need for any payment to use the services of WhatsApp. That being said, even if it does become paid in the future, the application will warn users in time and the method of paying for the subscription would certainly not be to send messages to our contacts. Often scammers bet on the fact that users are distracted and unaccustomed to the digital world.
How the chain letter acts
Daily chain letters are born on WhatsApp, and the most used of the moment acts through the private message: "Saturday morning WhatsApp will become paid! If you have at least twenty contacts send this message to them. So it will show that you are a regular user and your logo will turn blue and will remain free (they talked about it on the news). WhatsApp will cost 0,01€ to the message. Send it to ten people". The blue light to which the malicious refer is a simple emoji inserted in the message, so nothing official. Always beware of the messages we receive on messaging apps, the scam and hoaxes are always around the corner.
The message of WhatsApp
There is also another chain letter that in recent hours is circulating in a major way on the app now Facebook, its message is this: "Hello, we are Andy and Jonh, the directors of WhatsApp. A few months ago we warned you that from this summer WhatsApp would no longer be free, we always do what we say, in fact, we inform you that from today WhatsApp will cost 1 euro per month. If you want to continue to use your account for free send this message to 20 contacts in your address book, if you do, you will receive an sms from the number: 123#57 and they will tell you that WhatsApp is free for YOU!!! THANK YOU.... and if you don't believe us check it out for yourself on our website (www.whatsapp.com). ARRIVEDERCI. PS: when you do the light will turn blue (if you do not send it the WhatsApp agency will activate the cost)". Again it is a hoax and there are several elements to understand it. Some errors in sentence construction and punctuation, the use of capital letters to highlight important words and the use of she and you alternating nonsense. And then the CEO of WhatsApp is Jan Koum, not Andy and John, and the app would never address its users in this way. If you get one of these messages, don't trust it.