It may be information that has been leaked much earlier.
Whatsapp users’ phone numbers are for sale by the millions. Mostphotos
The phone numbers of over a million Finnish Whatsapp users are for sale, news reports Cybernews. The sale of Finnish numbers is part of a larger data breach in which the phone numbers of almost 500 million Whatsapp users have been obtained.
There are reportedly numbers from 84 countries and they are sold to those who want them. According to Cybernews, more than 1.38 million Finnish numbers were involved in the data breach.
Captured phone numbers can be used, for example, for marketing, phishing and fraud.
Leading expert of the Digital and Population Information Agency Kimmo Rousku calls for caution on Twitter.
– If it is true, you should be prepared by being even more careful with WhatsApp, sms and phone calls, Rousku to tweet.
Data from a previous leak?
Meta, which owns WhatsApp, has denied that there have been any new data breaches recently.
Data security expert Petteri Järvinen raises on Twitter pointed out that the number of 1.38 million numbers reported now is the same as the number of lines in the file concerning Finland in the Facebook leak in 2021.
– There were approx. 170,000 Arab Emirates in the group, so in the end there were 1,214,441 Finnish numbers. If so, then there is no danger, Järvinen writes.
Meta has long been criticized for allowing third parties to collect data from users of its services. In addition to Whatsapp, the company also owns the Facebook and Instagram platforms.