Anyone who uses WhatsApp to send their daily messages must be on high alert and cautious before hitting the reply button. That’s the latest warning from the security experts and Action Fraud who say cyber crooks are still active on the popular platform and are trying to steal your hard-earned cash. The most effective scams continue to be the infamous “friend-in-need” attacks which prey on people via messages that claim someone they know is in trouble.

Blocking these chats is vital, as those who reply can quickly get caught up in conversations that sound friendly enough but can end up with thousands of pounds being stolen from accounts.

If you think that sounds a bit far-fetched you’d be wrong as millions of pounds have been lost to these scams over the past few years.

In fact, during 2022 a total of £1.5m was handed to hackers using this type of attack. It was also recently confirmed that one pensioner almost lost £3,500 after being contacted by her ‘daughter’.

The victim – who wished to remain anonymous – was tricked into transferring over £3,000 under the pretence that her ‘daughter’ needed help after losing her laptop and desperately needed an Apple MacBook replacement. Luckily, the transaction was blocked by the victim’s bank but it serves as an urgent reminder of how much you could lose.

Action Fraud is now urging users to ‘block’ any numbers or contacts that don’t appear genuine.

“Received a strange message on WhatsApp from someone claiming to be family or a friend?” Action Fraud said in a message posted in X (formerly Twitter ).

“Be wary of friend-in-need scams. Report spam messages or block a sender within WhatsApp. Press and hold on the message bubble, select ‘Report’, and then follow the instructions.”

It’s important advice and even if you are already aware of these scams it’s good to tell other members of your family especially if they are not very tech-savvy.

“If a message looks suspicious or sounds too good to be true, don’t tap, share, or forward it,” the Meta-owned platform said.

“Always look closely at a link or file before opening it because it may appear to be legitimate, but could actually be malicious.

“As a best practice, if you aren’t sure whether something is true or don’t know who wrote the message you received, don’t forward it. Learn more about preventing the spread of misinformation in this article.

If you’re unsure of an unknown contact’s identity, ask them a personal question to confirm their identity and if they’re truly a known contact. You could also do a voice or video call with them to confirm their identity.”