Experts have issued an urgent warning to anyone who uses WhatsApp.
There are fears users of the messaging service could be vulnerable to hackers due to a large loophole which is being exploited, Birmingham Live reports.
Tech experts warn fraudsters could access and read text messages sent to friends, family members and colleagues.
READ MORE: Mum shares upsetting video of her teen daughter left 'frozen' after drink 'spiked' in club
@WABetaInfo on Twitter wrote: "WhatsApp is also working to bring end-to-end encrypted LOCAL backups on WhatsApp beta for Android! They were working on E2EE backups on Google Drive, but they will extend the feature for local backups as well. This feature will be available in a future update."
"Can you explain more about local backup? Asking for a friend," said one.
And another wrote: "What does e2e encryption even mean when we are talking about data encryption at rest? This makes no sense to me whatsoever."
"Will this enable restoring android backup to iOS?," asked another.
@WABetaInfo replied: "No, because they are two different features."
WhatsApp chats on the app are end-to-end encrypted but can be accessed on the cloud if they are backed up.
Media files and message histories can be accessed by authorities with a search warrant, it has been warned.
Cloud services are also apparently vulnerable to hacking from scammers and fraudsters which tech experts have spent years warning about.
Have you ever been targeted with a scam - let us know in the comments below:
