If you have installed a “WhatsApp Plus” app with shiny gold logos that you thought is a significant upgrade to your regular WhatsApp then it is highly recommended to delete it right away. A fake malicious WhatsApp Plus app has been circulated on the web these days that can affect your smartphone, reports Tech Radar.
According to the reports, the popular WhatsApp Plus is not offering any additional functionality or features within the domain of instant messaging users. No, instead, alongside inserting malware on your phone, it will also take personal information from our mobile device and also leave its brand logo, in the form of malware.
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This malicious app is a variant of Android/PUP.Riskware.Wtaspin.GB, a fake WhatsApp riskware that was first revealed back in mid-2017. The app comes with a number of unheard features such as hiding typing a message received texts and reading texts.
The app also lets you hide the notification if you have played a voice clip. You can even send over 100 photos at once to your friends, a secret password for privacy, and more.
How to identify the app
WhatsApp Plus has a gold logo in the middle instead of the typical green logo we’re familiar. Also, there’s a mention of a URL written in the middle of the logo. Once you click on the ‘Agree and Continue’ option it prompts you to download the latest version of the app through the Google Play store. Once you do that, the fake version of WhatsApp diverts you to an unsafe website where the text is written in Arabic. So essentially, the website lets you download an app with a weird sounding name – ‘Watts Plus Plus WhatsApp’.
How to uninstall WhatsApp Plus from your phone
Alternatively, if you have already mistakenly or happily downloaded this so-called Plus version of WhatsApp, here’s how you can remove it.
- Go to the phone’s Settings app
- Scroll down a bit and tap ‘Apps & Notifications’
- Tap the app you want to delete
- Tap Uninstall
- Tap Ok to confirm
Afterward, make sure that you are installing the correct version of WhatsApp on your phone from Google Play Store or Apple App Store.
