WhatsApp Message Won’t Hack Your Phone
The Claim
A WhatsApp message called “Argentina is doing it” has a virus that hacks cell phones.
News posted on
Emerging story
In mid-July 2020, a message began circulating on social media that a video called “Argentina is doing it” will “hack your phone in 10 secs."
Misbar’s Analysis
The warning claims that the video shows Argentina’s response to COVID-19 and that it contains malware that will hack your phone. It also alleges that CNN reported on the video. However, Misbar’s investigation found that CNN has never reported on the subject.
Further, searching for the video only leads to social media posts warning about the video. The video itself does not appear to exist. Misbar reached out to some of the Twitter users who posted about the alleged video, and none of them had actually seen the video or received a link about it.
Cybersecurity specialist Jake Moore said about this type of hoax: "There’s enough fake news going around without this to contend with, so if you ever see a message that requests it to be passed on, then resist the temptation, delete it and make the sender aware of this misinformation spreading."
On their web page, WhatsApp says that this type of claim is almost always a hoax.
