'Add me to WhatsApp' scam calls to be investigated

**“Add me to WhatsApp” scam calls to be investigated**

The UK’s data watchdog is looking into a surge in complaints about “robo calls” — where a recorded voice tells people to add the caller on WhatsApp — amid suspicions they are linked to a recruitment scam.

The Information Commission’s Office (ICO) received more than 3,600 complaints about automated calls in September, a five-year high and almost three times the number recorded in July.

It believes millions of people may be receiving these calls and told BBC Radio 4’s *You and Yours* it was “deeply concerned” by the sharp increase.

The ICO advises people to ignore calls from numbers they do not recognise, and to block and report any suspicious calls to the watchdog.

The automated calls usually appear to come from a UK mobile number.

Some of the recorded messages refer to an offer of part-time work.

Simon Fell, from the Communications Crime Strategy Group, a telecoms industry body created to combat fraud, said he could not be certain exactly what form the scam would take because he had not followed up on the messages.

“Mostly likely it would be a recruitment scam,” he said.

“They would either put you through to a fake job listing, which might involve some form of money muling. It could look like a completely legitimate job, or something ad hoc, but they might pass criminal funds through your account which can lead to terrible consequences.

“It could also be a simple phishing exercise - criminals send out these messages, and what they really want to know is who’s picking up, who’s active - that information can be resold on the dark web.

“The possibilities are endless. At the end of the day this is a criminal that has reached out to you and they’re trying to defraud you in some way shape or form.”

Andy Curry, the ICO’s head of criminal investigations, told the BBC he believed the calls were coming from abroad.

“We are trying to find who is behind this, why they’re doing it and the impact it’s having on members of the public,” he said.

He said the number of complaints received by the ICO would represent only a small fraction of the total number affected.

“We think there are probably millions of people who are receiving these messages, which appear to us to be largely indiscriminate.

“I’ve had them, my colleague who’s leading the investigation has had them. It’s likely to be tip of the iceberg.”

Fell said mobile companies were “working on a range of fronts” to deal with the flood of automated calls.

This includes sending intelligence reports to the regulator Ofcom, working with law enforcement, and liaising with Meta, which owns WhatsApp, because if someone does respond to the request to add the number to the encrypted platform, “any dialogue that happens between you and the criminal then can’t be investigated any further”.

A WhatsApp spokesman said there were measures in place to protect users from scam calls, including silencing calls from unknown numbers. He also said WhatsApp bans millions of accounts each year for “malicious behaviours”, such as bulk account registration or automated messaging.

Although these calls usually seem to come from a UK mobile number, Fell said the criminals behind the scam will imitate, or spoof, those numbers.

A Home Office spokesman said the government was taking “robust action” to tackle scams.

“We remain committed to delivering the Telecommunications Charter, alongside industry, by November,” he added.