WhatsApp data leaked: Phone numbers of almost 500 million users leaked - Check WhatsApp statement here

WhatsApp data leaked: WhatsApp phone numbers of 487 million users have been reportedly stolen and put on sale on a well-known hacking community forum. According to a report, the hacker was selling the US dataset for $7,000, the UK for $2,500, and Germany for $2,000, according to the report.

"According to Cybernews, the dataset allegedly contains WhatsApp user data from 84 countries and phone numbers of over 32 million users from the US, 11 million from the UK, and 10 million from Russia. The hacker claims to have a significant number of phone numbers belonging to the citizens of Egypt (45 million), Italy (35 million), Saudi Arabia (29 million), France (20 million), and Turkey (20 million)," IANS reported. 

Cybernews researchers were able to get in touch with the hacker and also able to collect a sample of the data in which they found out that the shared sample contained 1,097 UK and 817 US user numbers. Upon investigation, the researchers found that all of them were active WhatsApp users, the report said.

The hacker did not specify how they obtained the data, suggesting they "used their strategy," and that all the numbers belong to WhatsApp users, said the report. This database can be used by hackers for spamming, phishing attempts, identity theft, and other cybercriminal activities. WhatsApp provides numerous privacy settings, such as hiding status and profile pictures, that users can enable to protect themselves from prying eyes.

However, a WhatsApp Spokesperson, told Zee Business: "The claim written on Cybernews is based on unsubstantiated screenshots. There is no evidence of a ‘data leak’ from WhatsApp." 

Additionally, Jurgita Lapienytė, Chief Editor of the Cybernews , has also tweeted that there's no evidence of a data hack/ leak on WhatsApp.  "There's no evidence WhatsApp has been hacked. The leak might be a scrape but that doesn't mean it's any less dangerous for the affected users,"  she wrote on Twitter. 

How to check whether your data is safe or not:

- Visit www.cybernews.com

- Enter your mobile number or Email ID in the international formats.