This morning, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta’s contacts came across an unexpected message sent from his WhatsApp number. The text said: “Good afternoon! I have 10 thousand USD to sell. I need to receive the pesos in account, by transfer or deposit. Will there be any possibility of making this type of exchange now?”
The capture began to circulate immediately because the message, supposedly coming from a former head of the Buenos Aires government, was unusual. But the explanation is simple and well-known: it was a hack, a type of scam in which criminals take control of an account to contact all the scheduled numbers and request money under different excuses.
The format is the usual one. Scammers impersonate the victim, simulate an emergency and try to get the interlocutor to send a transfer quickly, without asking too many questions. The “offer” of dollars—with a high amount and the immediate need to receive pesos in an account—is part of the strategy to generate trust and urgency at the same time.
This type of intrusion on WhatsApp is increasingly common and affects both anonymous people and public figures. Criminals use previous data, previous conversations or simply the credibility generated by seeing the contact’s name on the screen to try to carry out the scam in a few minutes.
The case of Rodríguez Larreta once again shows the ease with which these attacks can be carried out and the importance of distrusting even messages that come from known contacts. When faced with any request for money, even if it seems authentic, the main recommendation remains the same: verify through another channel before responding and do not make transfers without direct confirmation.
