It is for your security: WhatsApp now wants to see your cell phone bill

• If your cell phone has been stolen or lost, you can temporarily block your WhatsApp account. So far, an email with the phone number to the support was enough.
• After a security researcher managed to block any account with just one email, the messenger improved.
• Now you have to prove with a phone bill or mobile phone contract that the number given in the e-mail belongs to you.

Messenger WhatsApp offers you the option of having your account blocked if you have lost your cell phone or it has been stolen. So far, it was enough to send an e-mail to the messenger support with the relevant telephone number. There has not yet been any further verification as to whether the account really belongs to you. Security researcher Jake Moore therefore managed to block two test accounts with a short email.

Then struck Moore alerted on Twitter and drew attention to the security gap in the process. His tweet was viewed over a million times in just a few days. Reason enough for the messenger to react.

Phone bill serves as proof of account ownership

Like a user in one comment on Moore’s tweet, WhatsApp has now suspended the practice described above. Anyone who reports to support with a request to block an account will be asked to send in receipts proving that the phone number belongs to the applicant. This can be a copy of the contract or a phone bill.

Of course, the process currently used by WhatsApp does not yet offer 100% protection against misuse. However, it is significantly safer than previous practice. It should also be noted that a correspondingly blocked account can easily be restored. All you have to do is enter your WhatsApp number again on the respective phone and request a verification code. However, you only have 30 days to do so, otherwise your account will be deleted, according to the WhatsApp FAQ.

But do you have to have your WhatsApp account blocked if you lose your cell phone? You can also simply have the SIM card blocked. That is of course correct. However, WhatsApp points out that an account can then theoretically continue to be used via WLAN. The only way to avoid this is to block your account.

Do you want to protect your chats against unauthorized access if you lose your cell phone? Then you can provide sensitive chats or WhatsApp with a fingerprint lock.

If you break these WhatsApp rules, you will be kicked out

By the way, not only can you have your WhatsApp account blocked if you lose your cell phone, Messenger can also close your account of its own accord. An unfortunate group name can suffice.

Also interesting…

WhatsApp has not only improved the process for blocking an account, the messenger has recently also offered the option of writing to any number via the app without having to save the contact. In addition, since mid-July there has been an official WhatsApp app for selected smartwatches for the first time.

But that’s not all. WhatsApp recently introduced a new form of communication with instant video messages.