WhatsApp dismisses messages of potential Jew-targeted cyberattacks

NBC News reports that WhatsApp has repudiated messages forwarded on its platform warning about phone hacking attacks aimed at Jewish people. Such a warning, shared by cryptocurrency influencer Scott Melker on X, formerly Twitter, purported that a file dubbed "Seismic Waves CARD" is being spread by threat actors to facilitate mobile device compromise, but WhatsApp Communications Manager Emily Westcott noted the rumor to be baseless. Fraudulent "seismic waves" hacking messages used just weeks ago amid the Moroccan earthquakes were also dismissed by WhatsApp. The most recent hoax threat is part of intensified disinformation and misinformation efforts on social media sites amid the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian military group Hamas, with old videos depicted as from the ongoing conflict being circulated on X gaining hundreds of thousands of views. Also spread on X was a fake press release from the White House purporting emergency aid totaling $8 million to Israel.