Effleurage Wellbeing Centre

06/09/2025

21/06/2025

🚨 WHATSAPP SCAM ALERT – PLEASE READ & SHARE 🚨

Dear friends and clients,

Please be aware of a new WhatsApp scam currently circulating. A scammer is impersonating real contacts by:

🔹 Pretending to be someone you know — using your friend’s name and even their profile picture.
🔹 Sending a message from a “new number” claiming it’s their new phone or WhatsApp line.
🔹 Gaining your trust and asking you to do something “harmless” — like voting for them or sharing a screenshot of an SMS verification code.

📌 What Happened:

I was contacted by someone pretending to be a friend named “Johan.” He said he entered an Ambassadeurskapskursus (ambassadorship program) and needed my vote.

He said I would receive an SMS and asked me to send him a screenshot of the code.

⚠️ The moment you send that code, they can use it to take over your WhatsApp account.

Thankfully, I phoned my real friend on his original number. He confirmed his identity was being used by scammers to trick his friends.

✅ What To Do:

🔒 Never send screenshots of verification codes to anyone – no matter how innocent it seems.
📞 Always verify a “new number” by calling the person's old number.
🚫 Report and block the scammer’s number on WhatsApp.
🛡️ Activate 2-Step Verification in WhatsApp:
Settings > Account > Two-step verification

🛑 Let’s stop the scam together by spreading awareness.
Please share this message in your WhatsApp groups and with all your contacts — especially elderly or vulnerable people.

Thank you,
Nico de Beer
Wild Olive Health Spa
📍 Three Rivers, Vereeniging