WhatsApp accounts targeted by fake dance competition scam

Authorities in Italy and San Marino have issued alerts regarding a resurgence of a phishing campaign known as the ‘ballerina scam’ on WhatsApp. Scammers send messages from compromised accounts within a victim's contact list, inviting them to vote for a young dancer in a fake competition or scholarship contest.

When users click the provided link, they are directed to a fraudulent website that mimics a voting portal. The site then requests a verification code sent to the user's mobile device. This code is not for voting, but is actually used by criminals to register the victim's WhatsApp account on a device they control. Once access is gained, scammers can read private conversations and use the victim's identity to spread the scam to other contacts.

To protect against this, the Polizia Postale and Cert-Agid recommend activating two-step verification with a PIN in WhatsApp settings and reporting identity theft through official police channels.