WhatsApp is the app most Israelis open dozens of times a day, which is exactly why it is a favorite channel for scams, harassment and account takeovers. The good news is that its settings include simple tools that greatly reduce the risk. Most are under Settings, then Privacy, and it is worth going through them once, in ten minutes.
Setting one: who sees your profile photo, About and Last seen. The default sometimes lets anyone with your number see them. Change it to 'My contacts'. Scammers use profile photos to create fake accounts impersonating you, and your online times to time their approaches. Setting two: who can add you to groups. Change it to 'My contacts' so strangers cannot drop you into 'investment' or spam groups.
Setting three: silence unknown callers. WhatsApp can automatically silence calls from numbers not saved in your phone. The calls still appear in the list, but the phone will not ring, which sharply cuts scam calls from abroad. Setting four: two-step verification, under Account. This is the most important setting: a PIN that stops others activating your account on another device even if they got the SMS code.
Setting five: check linked devices. Under Linked devices you see every computer and browser connected to your account, for example through WhatsApp Web. If there is a device you do not recognize, log it out immediately: someone may be reading your messages. Setting six: disappearing messages and encrypted backup. You can set messages in certain chats to delete automatically after a set time, and turn on encryption for your cloud backup so nobody but you can read it.
Beyond settings, three rules. Never give anyone a code you received by SMS, not even a 'friend' who writes that it was sent to you by mistake. Be wary of messages from a 'relative' on a new number asking for money, and check with a voice call to the old number. And do not click links to investments, prize draws or 'account updates'. A few minutes in settings can save a lot of trouble.
