Hopefully you’ve managed to avoid being duped by online scams, though to be frank, even the most careful of us are vulnerable to cyber criminals’ increasingly sophisticated ruses.
To help reduce the chances of being swindled in one way or another, Meta has just released details of new security features coming to its popular WhatsApp messaging service.
To help protect users on WhatsApp group messages, for example, Meta is launching a new safety feature that alerts you when someone who’s not in your contacts adds you to a new WhatsApp group. The alert will include information about the group as well as reminders on how to stay safe. You can then immediately exit the group without even looking at the chat, though if you think you might recognize the group, you can take a look at the chat to confirm either way.
Some scammers like to initiate contact on one platform before moving to another — like WhatsApp — to avoid detection and build trust with the person they’re trying to deceive, among other reasons. “To protect against this tactic, we continue to test new approaches to alerting people to pause before engaging,” Meta said. “For example, we’re exploring ways to caution you when you start a chat with someone not in your contacts by showing you additional context about who you’re messaging so you can make an informed decision.”
In a report on its website on Tuesday, the tech giant noted how criminal scam centers, which are often operating using forced labor in Southeast Asia, are prolific sources of online scams. In the first half of 2025, WhatsApp banned more than 6.8 million accounts linked to these centers, which operate a range of campaigns — including cryptocurrency and pyramid schemes — often pressuring people into making payments in return for their cash rewards … rewards that never come.
Meta is imploring users on all of its platforms, which besides WhatsApp also include Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Messenger, to “pause, question, and verify, before responding to a suspicious or unusual message, especially if it’s from a number you don’t know promising fast money.”
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well.
Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps.
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