Rabat – Morocco is seeing a growing form of WhatsApp fraud in which scammers take control of accounts or link their devices to them, then use familiar identities to make urgent requests for money. The tactic is also part of a wider global problem involving compromised messaging accounts.
Recent cases in Morocco have involved compromised WhatsApp accounts being used to contact friends, relatives, colleagues, and other people in the victim’s network. Instead of receiving a suspicious message from an unknown number, the victim may receive a request from a familiar contact asking for money urgently.
Several Moroccan social media users have recently shared their experiences with the scam, saying they were contacted through the WhatsApp accounts of close people. Some said they quickly realized something was wrong because the messages used unusual or broken Darija that did not match the way their contacts normally spoke.
The message may claim that the person has an immediate problem and needs a bank transfer “now,” or that they need money the same day. In some cases, scammers also provide a bank account number and detailed instructions for making the transfer.
The tactic can involve account takeover, social engineering, and linked devices. A scammer does not always need to physically access the victim’s phone. By tricking users into sharing verification information or scanning a QR code, criminals can link another device to a WhatsApp account and use it to communicate with the account owner’s contacts.
WhatsApp itself has warned users about this type of abuse. In March, Meta said scammers were increasingly trying to trick users into linking their WhatsApp accounts to another device. The company introduced warnings that can appear when its systems detect behavior suggesting that a device-linking request may be suspicious.
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The company has also repeatedly advised users to pause and verify unexpected requests, particularly when someone claiming to be a friend or family member asks for money. WhatsApp recommends contacting that person through another channel, such as a phone call, to confirm that the request is genuine.
The problem is not limited to Morocco. In May, Singapore police warned about a similar scam involving compromised WhatsApp accounts. Authorities recorded at least 52 cases since April 1, with losses of at least S$46,000. Scammers used compromised accounts to impersonate victims and approach their contacts.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong recorded 1,993 WhatsApp account-hijacking scams between January and July 2026, a 169.7% increase from the same period last year, with victims losing HK$146.3 million.
WhatsApp also said it has taken action against large-scale scam networks worldwide. In 2025, the company said it had removed more than 6.8 million WhatsApp accounts linked to criminal scam centers during the first half of the year.
