Cybercriminals prey on naivety , and a new scam campaign that attempts to trick Attack.Phishing people into providing bank details to pay for a fake WhatsApp subscription does just that . WhatsApp did once charge a subscription fee of $ 0.99/£0.99 , but stopped the practice in January 2016 . However , the fraudsters behind this latest scam are looking to take advantage of the fact WhatsApp -- which has over a billion users -- did once rely on a subscription service to dupe Attack.Phishing victims into handing over their banking information . The UK 's fraud and cybercrime centre Action Fraud and the City of London police have issued a warning about the campaign . Emails purporting to be Attack.Phishing from 'The WhatsApp Team ' claim that `` your subscription will be ending soon '' and that in order to continue to use the service , you need to update your payment information . Victims are encouraged to sign into a 'customer portal ' with their number and to enter payment information . Naturally , this is a scam -- with spelling errors in the text a huge giveaway -- and all the victims are doing is providing criminals with their financial details . Criminals could use these to simply make purchases or as a basis for further fraud . Scammers have also been known to use text messages in an effort to dupe Attack.Phishing victims into paying for a fake subscription . Those who receive Attack.Phishing the email are urged not to click on any of the links , but to instead report it to the police . Action Fraud also offers advice to those who have already fallen for the scam , telling victims to `` run antivirus software to ensure your device has not been infected with malware '' . Scammers often attempt to lure Attack.Phishing victims into handing over their credit card information -- or installing malware onto their machines -- often with authentic-looking phishing emails claiming to be from Attack.Phishing real companies . Previously , Action Fraud has warned about scammers attempting to steal Attack.Databreach credentials from university staff with fake emails about a pay rise , while police have also issued a warning about cybercriminals attempting to infect people with banking malware using emails that pretend to be Attack.Phishing from a charity .