WhatsApp Releases New Chat Lock Feature, Most 'Intimate' Message Notifications Can Be Hidden

Dream - WhatsApp has announced a new feature called "Chat Lock", where users can now lock chat messages using a password or fingerprint.

This new feature is designed as an additional security layer for user conversations, even the most intimate ones.

Private chats and groups can be locked and placed in a special folder above the "Archived" or "Archived" folder menu.

Once a chat is locked, the application will automatically hide the chat content in notifications. To open it, users must slowly open the inbox and enter the password or phone biometrics.

"We think this feature will be great for people who have reasons to share their phones from time to time with family members or at times when someone else is holding your phone at the exact moment a special chat arrives," the company wrote in its statement, quoted from TechCrunch, Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

Meta-owned company said it plans to add more options to the Chat Lock feature. Including locking companion devices and creating special passwords for chats so users can use different unique passwords.

Although WhatsApp already offers end-to-end encryption, it does not apply when someone unlocks access to the user's phone and can view messages. This new Chat Lock feature provides an extra layer of security in this regard.

The Chat Lock feature will be available a few weeks after WhatsApp adds some new updates regarding polls and sharing on its platform.

Beware! Fraudulent Electronic Traffic Ticket Circulating via WhatsApp Messages, Bank Account Can Be Drained

Dream - Smartphone users should be more cautious with various messages that enter their applications. Cybercriminals are now using various new patterns to prey on users who are mostly unaware that they have become victims.

The new modus operandi that is currently viral is a scam through messages on WhatsApp media regarding electronic traffic tickets. The message claims to be from the police and attaches a document in APK format.

The scam mode asks the public to install a traffic ticket application, but it turns out to be able to hack into their bank accounts.

In the actual implementation of electronic traffic tickets, the police will send the Electronic Traffic Law Enforcement (ETLE) directly to the vehicle owner's address along with evidence as written in etle-pmj.inf.

Drivers who are caught violating traffic rules will be sent a photo proof containing the time and place of the incident for confirmation purposes.

However, this electronic traffic ticket method is being exploited by cybercriminals who send messages through the WhatsApp messaging application. It should be noted that this is a new scam mode.

Quoting the NTCM Polri Instagram page, the perpetrators will send short messages on WhatsApp pretending to be the police and send APK extension files to the victims.

"Good afternoon, sir/madam. We, from the police, inform you that you have committed a violation. Please open the application to view your traffic ticket. Once the ticket has been read, please immediately come to the nearest police station," reads the fraudulent message.

In the same message, there is a file attached and the victim is asked to click and install it. Then the victim is asked to grant access rights to several applications.

From there, the perpetrator steals the victim's secret personal data in their mobile phone. The stolen data can vary, including personal data and information received through SMS, including banking data such as OTP and other data that will be taken by fraudsters.

If you receive a similar message, ignore it immediately. The public is also advised to be cautious and not download, install, or access unofficial applications.

It should be noted that personal data and confidential banking data such as mobile banking user IDs, passwords, PINs, or OTPs should not be provided.

"If the public has already installed the unknown application, it is recommended to immediately uninstall the unknown application," wrote NTMC Polri in its statement.