What You Need To Know About Pakistan’s Use of WhatsApp To Target Army Schools Students in India

According to reports, Pakistani Intelligence Operatives (PIOs) are allegedly contacting students from Army Public Schools in India through WhatsApp. Indian Army sources have stated that these students are being urged to join certain social media groups and disclose sensitive information via calls and messages. This indicates a fresh espionage effort by Pakistani intelligence.

According to reports, callers or texters pretend to be school teachers and approach students with requests to join “new class groups; while sending them one-time passwords (OTPs).

To gain students’ confidence, they can use references to something they are familiar with. Their goal is to make students believe that their real teachers are reaching out to them.

Reports revealed that students are receiving calls and WhatsApp messages from certain mobile numbers (8617321715 and 9622262167) allegedly sent by Pakistan Intelligence Operatives (PIO). Army public school principals have been advising students and staff about these invitations.

The warning warns that when students join the groups, they may be asked to share sensitive information such as their father’s job, school routines and times, teachers’ names and uniforms. PIOs may use different numbers and tactics to approach students, so parents are advised to be alert for suspicious calls.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp also implements security tools when receiving messages from unknown phone numbers. The application displays a new screen when the user receives a message from an unknown phone number for the first time. With the new security tools screen, WhatsApp aims to explain what users can do when they receive such messages.

As always, they can block unknown contacts or report them to the monitoring team. In addition, WhatsApp also provides users with information on how to stay safe in chat by checking the profile name, profile picture and country code of the phone number.