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Can You Lose Money By Downloading Images On WhatsApp? What Is This Fraud And How To Be Safe

Since sharing memes and memories is common practice in the age of ‘online interactions,’ remember to stop for a second before opening any unknown file; it might just be a scam

Whatsapp Image Scam

One fine afternoon, Pradeep Jain (28), who lives in Maharashtra received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number. The message was simple: a photograph of an elderly man with a caption that said “Do you know this person?”

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At first glance, Jain ignored it since strange messages aren’t uncommon these days. But the number kept calling him, ping after ping. Finally, perhaps out of curiosity or irritation, he gave in and downloaded the image.

Within minutes, around Rs 2 lakh vanished from his Canara Bank account.

Jain neither clicked a link nor downloaded any tempered APK. He didn’t even have to enter any password, yet the fraud happened. All he did was open an image and just like that, he became a victim of a new sophisticated digital heist that most people don’t even know is possible.

A scam that hides in plain sight

This is not your run-of-the-mill phishing attack where scammers might use misspelled URLs, or fake login pages to fraud you. The method used here is way more ‘silent’ and easy to miss, it’s called ‘steganography’ - a cyber trick that carries malicious code inside a harmless looking file such as an image, video, or PDF.

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We can understand it as some form of digital camouflage where the code that can hack your system is carried inside pictures. The image Jain downloaded looked like any other image but it was embedded with a code powerful enough to infiltrate his phone and extract banking details. This technique is known as ‘Least Significant Bit (LSB) steganography’.

Worse than this, when his bank called to verify the sudden transaction, the scammer mimicked his voice to confirm it. Such is the scale of these sophisticated frauds.

How This Scams Works

Typically, you are told to avoid suspicious links or unknown apps to avoid downloading dangerous malware on your smartphones. This scam flips the script: here, the malware is wrapped neatly inside a common image file.

When you open the image, the code activates quietly, collecting information and possibly even giving hackers remote access to your device.

What is the trick? Digital pictures use channels, red/green/blue, and sometimes transparency to display colours. Small changes in these channels, too small for the human eye to detect, are used to hide the data. When a victim opens the image, the hidden data gets unpacked like a suitcase and begins its work.

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By the time Jain realised something was wrong, the damage was done.

Files commonly used for such attacks include:

.jpg

.png

.mp3

.mp4

.pdf

These formats are widely shared and trusted by users and often slip past antivirus tools and end up not raising suspicions.

Checklist To Avoid This Scam

While this method is relatively new, the protection guide still rests on the same old-fashioned common sense, a few practical steps. If you regularly use WhatsApp to receive files on your phone, here’s what to do:

- Avoid downloading media from unknown numbers, no matter how urgent or harmless the file seems.

- Disable ‘auto-download for media’ in WhatsApp settings, this will stop files from being downloaded without your permission.

- You can use features like ‘Silent Unknown Callers’ to reduce unwanted contact from strangers.

- Put a restriction on who can add you to WhatsApp groups, this is important to limit the exposure to mass-targeted scams.

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- It is important to never share your OTPs or passwords digitally even if the request seems legitimate.

- Lastly, more than simply avoiding the unknown contacts you can also block and report them as ‘suspicious senders’ immediately.

What happened with Jain is a reported but not an isolated case. It is a reminder that scams are evolving just as fast as technology we are using. Since hackers no longer need you to just click dodgy links or download fraud apks, it is important to be more vigilant. Sometimes all it takes is a photo.

Since sharing memes and memories is common practice in the age of ‘online interactions’ remember to stop for a second before opening any unknown file or it might just be a scam.

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