Indian Govt warns WhatsApp users about ‘GhostPairing’ scam: How it works

The Indian government’s CERT-In has issued a warning to citizens about a new WhatsApp scam doing the rounds called GhostPairing.

GhostPairing is the latest scam on the block that is currently troubling WhatsApp users. It allows attackers to gain access to a victim’s account without any OTPs, without stealing passwords, and without SIM swaps. This happens because the victim unknowingly grants access to the attacker. Ghost Pairing relies on social engineering to trick users into approving a malicious device.

WhatsApp will block all third-party AI chatbots from January 2026 as Meta updates platform rules. (REUTERS)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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The Government of India has now issued a warning about this threat. The advisory comes from the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), which operates under the Government of India. CERT-In has warned users about WhatsApp’s device-linking feature and how attackers are using it to take complete control of accounts.

CERT-In said it has been reported that malicious actors are exploiting WhatsApp’s device-linking feature to hijack accounts using pairing codes without an authentication requirement. This newly identified cyber campaign, called Ghost Pairing, enables cybercriminals to take complete control of WhatsApp accounts without needing passwords or SIM swaps, the CERT-In advisory noted.

GhostPairing: Key takeaways

The advisory also explains how users are tricked into falling for this scam. According to CERT-In, victims may receive a message saying, “Hi, check this photo”, which could come from an actual trusted contact, or at least appear to be from one. The message may include a Facebook-style preview, making it look legitimate.

When the user clicks on the link, they are redirected to a page that asks them to verify their identity to view the photo. This is how attackers gain access to the victim’s WhatsApp account. The page triggers WhatsApp’s “Link a device via phone number” feature.

Once the user unknowingly approves this request, the attacker’s browser becomes a trusted device, effectively linking it to the victim’s WhatsApp account and allowing the attacker to take control.