Summary: The popular instant messaging app is reportedly working on a feature called ‘Suspicious Link Detection’. This new feature will let users know if a link is suspicious or not. It will mark that message with a red label that means the message is either spam or will redirect to a fake website. It will alert users before opening any suspicious link.
Main Article: WhatsApp is currently holding the leading position when its come to instant messaging service. One of the reasons to hold that position is continuous development to deliver a clean and secure user experience. There is no doubt about the fact that WhatsApp has the largest userbase. However, there are some users who misuse WhatsApp to spread fake news, provocations and fake website links. In recent times WhatsApp has seen a rapid growth of this kind of incidents. The Facebook-owned company is now taking steps to prevent the misuse of the app. Therefore, the company is reportedly working on a feature called ‘Suspicious Link Detection’.
WhatsApp Suspicious Link Detection Feature
The company is currently testing the ‘Suspicious Link Detection’ and will be rolling out in the near future. In addition, This new feature is currently available on the 2.18.204 beta version of the app. The work function of this new feature will be like this- If a user receives a link to a third party website, WhatsApp will conduct a background check. So it can verify the authenticity of the website and will alert the user if it identifies something suspicious.
WaBetaInfo says in a report, “When WhatsApp detects a suspicious link, the message is marked with a red label.”
If WhatsApp marked that with the red label that means the message is either spam or will redirect to a fake website. Most noteworthy, Sometimes, third-party links can redirect to a malicious website that can download malware in the background. If the user still clicks on the link, WhatsApp will alert them one final time that the link is possibly a suspicious link. If you recall, the company earlier introduced “Forwarded” label to allow users to identify whether the message has been forwarded.
Also, have a look at How to know if Your WhatsApp Message was Read While Blue Ticks Turned Off?