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Close the doors before they come back

The five cases this guide covers come through three doors. Close them today: it takes five minutes and you never go through this again.

The four locks

  1. Two-step verification, with a recovery email. In WhatsApp: Settings → Account → Two-step verification. Turn it on and add an email. It is the lock that stops anyone from registering your number on another phone even if they have the 6-digit code. Without the email, the day you forget the PIN you will have to wait seven days to get in.

    See how to turn on two-step verification

    Android

    1. 1 In the chat list, tap the three dots at the top, then Settings.
    2. 2 Tap Account.
    3. 3 Tap Two-step verification.
    4. 4 Tap Turn on, create a 6-digit PIN you do not use anywhere else and add your email when asked.

    iPhone

    1. 1 Tap Settings, bottom right in the tab bar.
    2. 2 Tap Account.
    3. 3 Tap Two-step verification.
    4. 4 Tap Turn on, create a 6-digit PIN you do not use anywhere else and add your email when asked.

    Illustration. Depending on your WhatsApp version the screen may look slightly different, but the option names are the same.

  2. A passkey, so you do not depend on SMS. In WhatsApp: Settings → Account → Passkeys. With it you confirm it is you with your fingerprint, your face or your screen lock instead of the SMS code, which is the one that can be diverted or talked out of you. If you use WhatsApp on another phone, create a passkey there too.

    See how to create a passkey

    Android

    1. 1 In the chat list, tap the three dots at the top, then Settings.
    2. 2 Tap Account.
    3. 3 Tap Passkeys.
    4. 4 Tap Create passkey and confirm with your fingerprint, your face or your screen lock.

    iPhone

    1. 1 Tap Settings, bottom right in the tab bar.
    2. 2 Tap Account.
    3. 3 Tap Passkeys.
    4. 4 Tap Create passkey and confirm with your fingerprint, your face or your screen lock.

    Illustration. Depending on your WhatsApp version the screen may look slightly different, but the option names are the same.

  3. Turn voicemail off, or change its PIN. Voicemail is a call diversion that almost every line ships with turned on, and its PIN is usually 0000 or 1234. Turn it off from your carrier app, or at the very least change the PIN.

  4. Your 6-digit code is not shared with anyone. Not with family, not with your boss, not with whoever claims to be support, not with whoever writes to you "on behalf of" someone. Not by chat, not by call, not by email.

What WhatsApp will never ask you for

  • Your 6-digit code, by any means.
  • Your full name, your bank password or card details.
  • That you scan a QR code that arrived by message, email or post.
  • That you install something or open a link to "verify your account".
  • Money, to unlock or recover the account.

If anyone asks you for any of those, it is not WhatsApp: it is the fraud, and it has just identified itself.

The three most common tricks

  • "Wrong number, send me the code you just got." The most common and the most effective. That code is the key to your account: you are handing it to whoever is asking.
  • The QR that arrives by message. It is not a menu, not a prize, not a payment. It is the WhatsApp Web screen, and scanning it opens your account to that person.
  • "I am from WhatsApp support." There is no support by phone or by direct message. WhatsApp only answers from inside the app or from its web form, and it never writes to you first.

Already happened to you?

If you lost the account, go to the guide and pick your case. There are five and they take minutes.

See what to do now