WhatsApp has had a massive build-up for its voice-calling feature ahead of its official release. With only a handful of users having access to the feature, most users are just playing the waiting game.
Taking advantage of this, spammers are sending fake invites to users with a promise of granting access to WhatsApp voice-calling. In reality, these invites are nothing more than shooting a hole to let virus and malware into the device.
If you received an invite with an attached link that reads, "Hey, I am inviting you to try WhatsApp Calling click here to activate now—> http://www.whatsappvoiceplus.com," do not fall prey. The attached link will redirect you to a website, which looks genuine and can easily fool anyone. On the site, users will be asked to invite 10 friends to enable the feature. After inviting 10 friends, users will be redirected to various pages, advertisements and websites. With this, while there is no chance of users getting voice-calling activated on their WhatsApp, it will simply feed the spammers with multiple page visits, earning them a lot of money.
This invitation scam was started a couple of days ago but the link was pulled down after it was widely reported. After days of silence, the spam message is being circulated again to users with a fresh link. But clicking on the link and following the given instructions will only spread the message to other users forming a vast network of spam. As for you, there is a great chance that malware and virus will be injected into your device through unknown site visits.
So What's the Real Deal?
If you really want the voice-calling feature on your WhatsApp without falling prey to spam and hoax, there's just one way to do it. Currently WhatsApp is beta-testing the feature with a select group of users and developers in India. The company will not initiate a public rollout unless it is fully satisfied with the performance. But there's one percent chance that you too can have voice-calling before anyone else.
Make sure you have the latest version of WhatsApp (v2.11.561) installed on your device. Then, find someone who has the feature activated and get them to call you. This is the only way voice-calling can be activated on your device. The only other option is to wait for WhatsApp to rollout the feature over-the-air.
