WhatsApp spam: New feature will protect users from fraudsters

A warning message from the company will appear prominently at the top of the chat bubble

Revellers dressed up as dancers of 'Black Swan' check their mobile phones next to revellers dressed up as a Whatsapp logo as they take part in New Year's celebrations in Coin, near Malaga, southern Spain, early January 1, 2015 (REUTERS/Jon Nazca)

WhatsApp is reportedly working on a feature that will make it easier for you to spot spam messages and avoid being duped by them.

Spammers regularly use the platform to spread false claims, and the company is trying to confront the issue.

A commonly circulated example of such a message says you’ll soon have to start paying a subscription fee in order to continue using WhatsApp, unless you forward the message to several of your contacts.

WhatsApp will soon show you an alert when you receive a message that has been forwarded at least 25 times, according to WABetaInfo.

A warning message from the company will appear prominently at the top of the chat bubble.

While the feature might not cut out spam altogether, it should make it easier to identify spam messages and ignore them.

It should also reduce the maximum potential reach of individual spam messages, and result in the people behind them having to work much harder to spread their claims.

The feature is currently under development, but WABetaInfo says it will roll out in an upcoming Android update.

WhatsApp has a number of tips for spotting spam and fraudulent messages.

It advises users to be wary of messages that include misspellings or grammatical mistakes, ask you to tap on a link, ask you to share your personal information, ask you to forward the message, ask you to click on a link to “activate” a new feature, and claim that you have to pay to use WhatsApp.

“If you’ve received spam from a contact, delete the message and do not click on any links or provide personal information. Tell the contact that the message they sent includes spam and point them to this WhatsApp safety page,” the company says.

“You can also send reports of spam to WhatsApp by contacting us from inside the app.”

If receive a spam message from a number you don’t have saved, you should block the sender, so they can no longer message or call you through WhatsApp.

Just open the conversation and hit Block. You can also report the user as Spam from here.