"Excuse me, who are you?": the new WhatsApp scam that starts with this simple question

Security experts have warned of a rise in the number of victims of a new WhatsApp scam that starts with an extremely simple and innocent-looking question.
Unfortunately, new scams on WhatsApp are becoming more frequent and more sophisticated. However, some of these scams are not necessarily highly developed. In fact, the latest one is affecting thousands of people and is based on a seemingly innocent question: “excuse me, who are you?”. Read on to find out how it works.
“Excuse me, who are you? I found your number in my contacts”, begins the new WhatsApp scam. The scammer then tries to gain the trust of the victim, asking personal questions such as age, name or place of work. They even ask for a photo and respond with compliments.
The scammer’s objective is to gain the victim’s trust and then add them on Facebook or Instagram in order to continue getting more information. Once they have enough information, they begin making requests and threatening to reveal the victim’s personal information if they do not comply.
They may even install malware on the victim’s phone in order to get more information. This has allowed them to obtain passwords, files and a high amount of personal information from thousands of people. Despite being a known technique, experts have reported that cases have risen over the last few weeks.
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