Actor’s WhatsApp compromised, hacker harasses women friends

An actor has approached the Goregaon police after his WhatsApp account was allegedly hacked early on Sunday and obscene calls and texts were made to his friends and colleagues.
One of the recipients—an actress-dancer—managed to record a video call, where a man could be seen masturbating. She has submitted it as evidence in the case to the police. Experts believe that a six-digit WhatsApp code, required to install or reinstall the app, was compromised.
Sanchay Goswamihas dabbled in TV and films. He was at the airport on Sunday when he received a call from an international number around midnight. “My brother is in the US and I thought it might be him trying to reach me. When I answered the call, I found it to be a pre-recorded message giving out a six digit WhatsApp code. I hung up as I hadn’t requested for the code. Thereafter, I received messages twice, again sending the code,” he said. While Goswami was still wondering why he was getting these messages, he lost access to the app. “I tried logging back, but the app wouldn’t let me do so for another six hours,” Goswami said.
During this period, someone else is believed to have gained unauthorised access to Goswami's WhatsApp account, which was then converted into a business account. Around 1am, an actress received a video call from Goswami's number. “I did not accept it the first time as it was quite late in the night. I then got messages urging me to answer the call and check out something interesting. As I know Goswami professionally and trust him, I accepted the next video call. I was horrified to find a man masturbating on camera. I recorded the call for evidence,” she said.
Meanwhile, Goswami’s other friends started reaching out to him and he realised his WhatsApp account had been hacked. “There were four other women friends who had received obscene calls and texts. Demands were made to them for nude images,” said Goswami. About 45 other friends of his also got calls and texts from his number.
Ultimately, Goswami went to the Goregaon police station, where they accepted a written application from him, but no FIR was registered. He was sent to the cybercrime police station at BKC, which sent him back to the Goregaon police station.
After spending several hours there on Tuesday morning, Goswami's FIR was finally registered. “After six hours, when I regained access of my WhatsApp account, it had been converted back into a personal account from a business one. I immediately set up a password for protection,” he said.
The app can only be used by one number on one device at a time. “It's a mystery how Goswami’s six-digit WhatsApp code got compromised. The code should absolutely not be shared with anyone else. Once a fraudster gets this code, he can access your account without authorisation and read all your chat conversations,” said cyber expert Ritesh Bhatia.