Beware of WhatsApp Being Online and Sending Messages: Take These Steps Immediately
It is impossible for WhatsApp to be active or online and send messages without being operated by the user. However, this can happen if someone has hacked your WhatsApp account. If your WhatsApp suddenly appears online and sends messages, you should be vigilant. Here are the steps you should take to stop someone from hacking your WhatsApp account.
If your WhatsApp account has been hacked through a linked account on a foreign device, you can remove it. To do this, access the “Settings” menu in the WhatsApp application on your main phone. Then, select the “Linked Devices” option. Next, select the foreign device that is linked to your WhatsApp account. Finally, click the “Logout” option to remove the WhatsApp account from that device.
The next step to stop WhatsApp from being hacked is to re-login to your WhatsApp account. First, delete the WhatsApp application on your phone, then download and reinstall it. After that, you can re-login to your WhatsApp account by entering the phone number used for the account. Then, verify the account by entering the 6-digit code received via SMS.
According to the official WhatsApp website, after verifying with the 6-digit code, anyone who has hacked or is using your account without your knowledge will be automatically removed. As a result, you can regain control of your account. In this situation, you may not know the two-step verification code created by the hacker on your WhatsApp account. If you do not know the code, you must wait 7 days to be able to access the account without the two-step verification code.
However, regardless of whether you know the two-step verification code or not, anyone who has hacked your WhatsApp account will be removed after you enter the 6-digit OTP code. The third way to stop WhatsApp from being hacked is to report the account hacking issue directly via email to support@whatsapp.com, as reported by KompasTekno on Thursday (August 27, 2020). You can provide details of the incident, including when and how the account was hacked. After that, the WhatsApp team will investigate the user’s report to identify the hacking pattern. The faster you report the issue, the faster the process of recovering your WhatsApp account will be. These are some of the ways to stop WhatsApp from being hacked remotely that you need to know to secure your account.