{"id":27020,"date":"2025-12-31T09:56:42","date_gmt":"2025-12-31T09:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/31\/new-year-2026-greetings-scam-cyber-experts-warn-about-this-whatsapp-linked-attack-tech-news\/"},"modified":"2025-12-31T09:56:42","modified_gmt":"2025-12-31T09:56:42","slug":"new-year-2026-greetings-scam-cyber-experts-warn-about-this-whatsapp-linked-attack-tech-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/31\/new-year-2026-greetings-scam-cyber-experts-warn-about-this-whatsapp-linked-attack-tech-news\/","title":{"rendered":"New Year 2026 Greetings Scam: Cyber Experts Warn About This WhatsApp-Linked Attack | Tech News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"story-9802441\">\n<p><span class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-3759419209\">Last Updated:<\/span><time class=\"jsx-395e0e0beb19cb6e jsx-3759419209\">December 31, 2025, 15:10 IST<\/time><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"asubttl-9802441\" class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-4126987999 asubttl-schema\">New Year 2026 messages are going to flood your inbox in the next few hours and authorities are warning people about the cyber scam.<\/h2>\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b artsharwrp\"><a href=\"https:\/\/news18.co\/gnps-en-btn\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"jsx-91f4da8d48c13a79 gglebtn bggrn\"\/><\/p>\n<div id=\"artshare\" class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b artshare\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b stickdiv\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b deskwrapstkdiv\">\n<div class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b fontchange\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/dlxczavtqcctuei\/news18\/static\/images\/english\/font.svg\" height=\"30px\" width=\"30px\" alt=\"font\" title=\"font\" class=\"jsx-cc1b15cf85effb8b lazyload\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-4126987999\">\n<figure class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-4126987999 amimg\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Happy New 2026 scam could spoil the event for many.\" title=\"Happy New 2026 scam could spoil the event for many.\" src=\"https:\/\/images.news18.com\/ibnlive\/uploads\/2021\/07\/1627283897_news18_logo-1200x800.jpg?impolicy=website&amp;width=400&amp;height=225\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-4126987999\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Happy New 2026 scam could spoil the event for many.<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p id=\"0\" class=\"story_para_0\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">New Year 2026 is around the corner and that means people will be celebrating the occasion and wishing their dear ones. However, this is also the time when your festive spirit might be exploited by hackers, who can infiltrate your devices just with a simple Happy New year greeting. And cyber experts are now warning people about such attacks that can be passed on through WhatsApp across millions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"1\" class=\"story_para_1\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">What might look like basic New year wishes could end up handing over the control of your phone to the hacker.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"2\" class=\"story_para_2\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\"><strong>New Year 2026 Scam: What You Should Know<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"3\" class=\"story_para_3\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">The message around the New Year 2026 WhatsApp scam has been shared by the police in Hyderabad and the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) this week in the build up to the big event. But it is not just linked to WhatsApp as per the authorities and you might even see these messages sent through Telegram, which is another popular messaging platform among users in the country.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"4\" class=\"story_para_4\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">The fake greeting message could be hard to identify, especially since it will sound friendly and you might assume it might be from someone you know but not added in the contact list. So, when you click the message, the main agenda of the attack is triggered.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"5\" class=\"story_para_5\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">The message carries an APK file for an app which runs on Android phones and when you install the file, it allows the malware to bypass the device security and start running in the background. It can track all your activities, and even decode the important passwords for your accounts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"6\" class=\"story_para_6\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">The concerns are grave because hijacking a device means the hacker can use your WhatsApp account to send the same message across your contact list and trigger a massive chain reaction that affects many people in your circle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p id=\"7\" class=\"story_para_7\"><span style=\"font-weight:400\">The police authorities have cautioned people about being careful with such messages, especially when you see them coming from unknown contacts. And if these messages have links or even GIF files, do not click on them. They have also recommended users to set up two-factor security for their accounts so that bad actors are not able to successfully exploit the breach and steal confidential data and even drain your bank accounts. <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-4126987999 atbtlink Location\"><span>Location :<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Delhi, India, India<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-4126987999 atbtlink fp\"><span>First Published:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"rs\">\n<p>December 31, 2025, 15:10 IST<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-4126987999 brdcrmb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/\">News<\/a>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/tech\/\">tech<\/a>  <span class=\"brdout\"> New Year 2026 Greetings Scam: Cyber Experts Warn About This WhatsApp-Linked Attack<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"coral-wrap\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f \">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coral-cont\">\n<div class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f coltoptxt\">Disclaimer: Comments reflect users\u2019 views, not News18\u2019s. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/disclaimer\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Terms of Use<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/privacy_policy\/\" class=\"jsx-ba4d8f086a12294f\">Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"jsx-ee90caf6118df965 jsx-4126987999 rmbtn news18_read_more\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.news18.com\/tech\/new-year-2026-greetings-scam-cyber-experts-warn-about-this-whatsapp-linked-attack-9802441.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last Updated:December 31, 2025, 15:10 IST New Year 2026 messages are going to flood your inbox in the next few hours and authorities are warning people about the cyber scam. Happy New 2026 scam could spoil the event for many. New Year 2026 is around the corner and that means people will be celebrating the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezgyan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}