Earlier this week, WhatsApp officially announced that it is bringing video calling support for its messaging platform. The company is rolling out the updates to its official client for Android and iOS in stages to properly balance the load on its services. However, as it is usually the case, a spam message is now being spread on WhatsApp that provides users with the step to immediately enable video calling feature on their device.
The spam message is more of an invitation and asks users to visit a website where they are asked to verify their identity to enable video calling by inviting 4 of their friends and sharing the message in 4 active groups. It goes without saying that this is a total scam and will not enable video calling on WhatsApp on your phone.
If you are wondering why video calling feature is still not enabled for you, it is because it’s a staged roll out from WhatsApp. You will first receive an update to the app from the Google Play Store which will, in turn, enable the feature. Remember that making video calls through WhatsApp requires that the other party is also on the latest version of the app. You can find the detailed steps on making video calls through WhatsApp here. These type of scam messages are actually very common on WhatsApp. Spammers try and lure uninformed people into their trap by spreading messages where they can purchase a latest high-end smartphone for less than half its price through a link that is eerily similar to popular e-commerce websites. The lesser informed people fall into these traps and end up purchasing a phone from these fake websites using their credit or debit card. So, the next time you receive any similar message on WhatsApp, make sure to double check the website mentioned in it.
