If you’ve used WhatsApp before, you probably have your own number associated with the service so that you can receive messages from your friends or family members on this messaging platform.
However, do you know you can’t really tell if someone else has used your number? Sure, there are some ways to check, but none of these methods would guarantee that nobody else uses your WhatsApp number without your knowledge.
So, how do you know if someone else is using your number for WhatsApp? Read on and find out the answer!
How Do You Know If Someone Else Is Using Your Number For WhatsApp?
There are several ways to check if someone is using your number on WhatsApp.
The first way would be to check through your conversations, to see if there are messages which you never sent. If you could find some of it means someone is using your number on WhatsApp.
To make sure nobody ever has access to your account, lock it with a password that is known only to you so nobody can get in even when they have your phone or SIM card.
You can also limit who has permission on the app which will help avoid any issues. Simply go to Settings > Account > Privacy settings > Permissions.
Under Who can send me messages, set each individual group as either Only contacts or Nobody (or whichever permissions work best for you).
Under Who can see my profile picture, choose From contacts only so people outside your chat groups won’t see what you look like.
Under What can other users do?, uncheck Show name in profile pic and let people request access to add you as a contact instead of giving permission automatically.
Choose whether you want to save sent media within the app (default) or download it, so that even if you don’t delete media before hand, you’ll always have copies stored safely on your device.
Finally under Delete conversation history older than 7 days and Unseen messages older than 7 days, choose Keep everything in order to keep complete records of every conversation.
Remember, these steps before updating any software because sometimes features can break along with an update.
Steps To Check If Someone Is Using Your WhatsApp Account
If you suspect that someone has your phone and access to your WhatsApp account, here are five quick checks to see if it’s true:
- Check the contact list on the phone. If there are people in there who shouldn’t be, then they might be logged into the account.
- Check recent messages sent by friends. If they’re not what they typically send or seem uncharacteristic of that person, then something might be up. You can also tell by checking the date and time of those messages.
- Look at a message thread with someone who doesn’t use Facebook Messenger. Those threads will say Text next to them instead of Chat.
- Open WhatsApp settings and tap where it says last seen. Your last seen date should be today’s date, if everything is normal.
- Go back to chat settings and check their profile picture under your contacts list, which should also match their avatar from Facebook Messenger.
- In Settings>Accounts & Privacy>Status, turn off both last active and last seen. Doing this will keep other users from knowing when you were last online.
- Last, go back to Settings>accounts & privacy>Chat settings and scroll all the way down until you see Default SMS App.
Can Someone Steal Your WhatsApp number?
No, they cannot steal your WhatsApp number. But there are other ways that they might be able to use it without your knowledge.
For example, if they have access to the device where the WhatsApp account is registered, they can change the password and lock you out of it.
Or if they get a hold of your SIM card, they could potentially change your phone number with theirs.
However, this does not mean that you should worry about losing your WhatsApp contact list! Your contacts will still be able to see all the conversations and sent messages from their end as long as their phones are connected to the internet.
If a friend has gone missing from your contact list, there’s a good chance that he or she has changed his or her phone number. You can also check in on your contact list by going to Menu > Settings > Account > Phone numbers.
That way, you’ll know for sure if anyone’s been swapping out their phone numbers without telling you. In addition, WhatsApp now includes a security feature called two-step verification, which prevents hackers from accessing your account even if they figure out your username and password.
To turn on a two-step verification for WhatsApp, go to Menu > Settings > Account > Two-step authentication. Here, you’ll need to set up a six-digit PIN number (or longer) for your account. The PIN will serve as an extra layer of protection against unauthorized logins.
It’s important to note that turning on two-step authentication may lead to an interruption in service until your phone confirms the new setting.
Once activated, every time you try to log into WhatsApp with the wrong credentials, it sends a text message containing a confirmation code that only matches what is typed into the app.
Can Someone Hacked Your WhatsApp Number?
Yes. You can’t tell by just looking at the app. If someone has hacked your phone, they could have access to everything on it, including messaging apps like WhatsApp. They might even be able to control how it looks or what information and services are accessible.
So how do you know if someone else is using your number for WhatsApp?
There are a few ways that this could happen.
One way is through a brute force attack where an attacker will try all possible combinations of numbers and letters until they find the correct one.
Another method is through social engineering, which means fooling the user into giving their account info over the phone, email, or chat.
So how do you know if someone else is using your number for WhatsApp? The only way to know 100% would be with the help of law enforcement agencies who would then need a warrant in order to gain access to any personal devices.
However, there are some signs that show that someone might not be yourself:
- Incoming messages from unknown senders.
- Messages being sent to unknown contacts (but not vice versa).
- Receiving messages outside the time zone you set when configuring your settings.
- Receiving messages when the device is powered off or unreachable (e.g., turned off, out of network range).
- Remember to change your password as soon as you suspect someone might be accessing your account. It’s important to stay vigilant!
Can Someone Read WhatsApp Messages From Another Phone?
Yes, messages on WhatsApp can be read from another phone. The only way to avoid this happening is by having a password set up on the account. However, there are other ways that people have found to find out if their number has been taken over and used without their consent.
One of these ways is through looking at app permissions in your phone’s settings menu and checking whether or not WhatsApp has access to all data stored in the phone. Another way is by logging into the original user’s account and viewing activity logs in Settings > Chats > Active Chats which lists contacts who recently sent or received messages via WhatsApp.
If there is an unfamiliar contact listed here, then it could show that the account has been compromised. You may also see old conversations with a contact or group chats popping back up again, which might be a sign that someone is reading those conversations and deleting them.
Lastly, when accessing the Contacts tab (Settings > Contacts) one might notice that some numbers seem to be ‘online’ when they were not before.
How Do I Stop Someone From Tracking Me On WhatsApp?
If you are worried that an unknown person might be using your phone number to send messages via WhatsApp, follow these instructions:
- Log out of the app and then log back in. You should now have a new chat ID.
- Select Change Number on the top right corner of the app’s home screen.
- Follow the steps to change your phone number and verify it with a text message sent from that phone to another contact within the app.
Then download the updated version of WhatsApp, enter the new number, and restore chats by logging out then back in. The final step is restoring chats from backup, which can only be done when logged out of the application.
For this method to work, the sender must still have the original chat in his or her inbox because the app will not allow restoration without having this original conversation on hand.
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Conclusion
It’s possible for someone to use your WhatsApp number without you knowing. This can be possible by using your phone number to register for other versions of WhatsApp or by hacking your device and chatting with your contacts as you.
In whichever case, you can now know if someone is using your WhatsApp with the guide above.