"Could you vote for Eliska?": the ghost pairing scam targeting WhatsApp accounts

TechnologyInternationalXatakaOct 24, 2026, 5:56 AM45 s readAI summary

A fraud campaign uses WhatsApp messages asking users to vote for a girl in a dance contest in exchange for a free class. The link leads to a site that simulates a vote, asks for the phone number and shows a code to enter in WhatsApp: this is the information needed to link an external device to the account, a scam known as ghost pairing. According to INCIBE, this allows writing to contacts without authorization and forwarding the message; Bitdefender identified 177 domains and 554 URLs linked to the campaign.

In 45 seconds

The link simulates a vote, asks for the phone number and provides a code to link an external device to the WhatsApp account.
INCIBE describes it as ghost pairing: it allows writing to contacts without authorization and spreading the same message.
Bitdefender identified 177 fraudulent domains and 554 unique URLs associated with this social engineering campaign.

Read the full story at Xataka

IASummary generated by artificial intelligence from a story by Xataka. It may contain errors: the original source prevails.

WhatsApp
ciberseguridad
fraude
ghost pairing
INCIBE

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"Could you vote for Eliska?": the ghost pairing scam targeting WhatsApp accounts

In 45 seconds

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