Global Pattern, Not Single Attack: What Links Zimbabwe to Malaysia and Cayman Islands

By Ross Moyo

Zimbabwe’s case is not isolated. Reports of WhatsApp-related cybercrime are now surfacing in Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Cayman Islands, Brazil, India, Australia and others.

Zimbabwe: Citizens reporting being logged out despite retaining SIMs, some with two-step verification enabled. Screenshots show “Your phone number is no longer registered with WhatsApp on this phone”. Experts suspect interception via call forwarding — dial _#21# to check, ##002# to cancel — and attacks when app is offline.

Malaysia: The Communications and Multimedia Commission opened an investigation in September after hacked, suspended or inaccessible accounts. Bernama reported 92 complaints by September 30 and MCMC requested a comprehensive explanation from Meta.

Cayman Islands: Royal Cayman Islands Police warned on October 1 that fraudsters were stealing six-digit verification codes to impersonate owners and demand urgent financial help.

Separate Malware Campaign: Kaspersky in June uncovered VBScript files disguised as documents sent via WhatsApp Desktop/Web in 11 countries including Brazil, India, UK, Malaysia, with Malaysia highest victims.

Cybersecurity analysts caution these are not necessarily one coordinated global attack. Zimbabwe and Cayman involve hijacking/impersonation, Malaysia covers compromised accounts, and June campaign was malware via attachments. Common thread is exploitation of trust.