6/2/2023 0 Comments What is my whatsapp numberWe also strongly encourage the use of two-step verification. At this time, we'll remove the old account data tied to the phone number-like the profile photo and About." In this case however, the WhatsApp account appeared to be in active use.Ī WhatsApp spokesperson told Motherboard in an email, "We take many steps to prevent unauthorized account usage, including expiring accounts after a period of sustained inactivity and providing ways for people to delete or transfer their account to a new phone number. If an account is unused for 45 days and then becomes newly activated on a different mobile device, we take this as a sign that a number has been recycled. On its website, WhatsApp says "To help eliminate confusion with recycled phone numbers, we monitor account inactivity. This can end up with people inadvertently possessing phone numbers that already act as a piece of two-factor authentication for someone else's online accounts, or, in this case, their identifier on WhatsApp, even though this re-assigning is beyond WhatsApp's own control. When a phone number has not been used in some time, a carrier may re-assign or recycle it.). The root of the problem appears to be phone number reuse. I didn't have access to any historical messages from before I logged into the account, but I did receive messages in real-time after that. At least some of these people likely did not know the account of their friend or perhaps relative had been accidentally taken over by someone else. Using a non-work phone or computer, you can contact Joseph Cox securely on Signal on +44 20 8133 5190, Wickr on josephcox, OTR chat on or email more than a week, when I turned the phone back on it vibrated with a stream of new WhatsApp messages. This, I quickly realized, wasn't really my WhatsApp account, but someone else's.ĭo you work at WhatsApp, or did you used to? We'd love to hear from you. I checked my 'status' in the app, and my profile picture was of a blonde woman. I was immediately in multiple group chats with other people and numbers I did not know. When I logged into WhatsApp for the first time, something was wrong. I then downloaded WhatsApp and registered with my new number. Earlier this month, I bought a pay-as-go SIM card because I needed a fresh number for a particular article I was working on.
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