In recent hours, a person outside the CONFIDENCIAL team usurped the ownership of our WhatsApp account used to send Informative Alerts and receive informative tips and complaints from our readers. After several attempts, this person managed to breach security and took over our account in the messaging application.
The first attempt was at noon on Tuesday, January 4, when it remotely replaced the accesses. The CONFIDENCIAL team managed to block the account, although they were unable to regain control of it. However, on the night of Wednesday, January 5, the person took control of the account again, trying to usurp the identity of CONFIDENTIAL.
The hacker had access to the WhatsApp verification SMS, established new codes, changed the CONFIDENTIAL account from WhatsApp Business (configured for companies) to WhatsApp Messenger (used by natural persons) and modified the account’s biography, to presume its theft . In the account where previously it was invited to subscribe to the Informative Alerts, the usurper placed the message: “Number stolen by the most powerful in Nicaragua. Yours sincerely: I am Immortal ”, in capital letters, followed by a Nicaraguan flag.
Readers’ information is protected
Although the hacker hijacked CONFIDENTIAL’s WhatsApp account, our team has verified that You do not have access to any of our mailing lists or the contact details of our readers., because these are not linked to the hijacked number.
The hijacker cannot contact our lists, because he cannot see them. You also can’t see previous conversations or previous posts. However, you can interact, impersonating us, if someone writes or calls the Alerts number.
In this case, the usurper will only be able to see the number of the person who writes and their public WhatsApp username.
For this reason, it is extremely important that our subscribed readers do not send or answer messages or make or answer calls from the number +505 8577 1820, as the usurper will try to impersonate your identity from a member of the CONFIDENTIAL team.
Please, ignore any communication from this number. For your safety, we ask you not to write, call or respond to any type of communication from that line. Also, do not download any files, or provide any information that it asks for.
How to protect yourself from similar attacks?
To avoid being affected by a similar attack, we invite you to reinforce the security measures in your WhatsApp account.
There are several two-step verification options, but the most secure is the six-digit code that, once configured, the platform asks regularly to verify that the owner is still in possession of his account, as well as to protect him from any identity theft attempt on the platform.
Also, do not activate the sending of codes by SMS (conventional text messaging) as a two-step verification method of WhatsApp, because this is the most insecure and easy way to intercept.
See in this video, how to activate the WhatsApp verification PIN
CONFIDENCIAL regrets the incident and has already taken the corresponding measures to raise levels of protection and prevent a similar attack.
To continue informed with our Informative Alerts, You can subscribe to our official news channel on Telegram Confidencial Nicaragua, which has the verified badge, O well, by clicking on this link and then clicking on SUBSCRIBE.
In addition, it is important that you know that any information about the status of our account in WhatsApp will only be made known through our official accounts on social networks and our website.
