Warning! The Spanish Civil Guard is warning of a new threat on WhatsApp!
Known in Spanish as the “mensaje de la muerte” (the message of death), it only affects Android devices, not iPhones.
It works as follows: You receive a text message with Chinese-type characters which, having been copied and pasted to Whatsapp, will crash the application on Android devices. This is particularly dangerous for WhatsApp groups, as it blocks WhatsApp for all group members and deletes the group.
How to resolve the WhatsApp ‘message of death’
- If received from another user: just delete the chat to resolve the problem.
- If the message comes through a group, go to “Settings”, “Applications” “Manage Applications”, “WhatsApp”, “Clear Data”. Be aware however that all chats and messages histories for all groups will be deleted.