Handle with care, says WhatsApp as India flags fraud risks in username rollout

A day after the Indian government asked Meta Platforms to put on hold the rollout of a new WhatsApp feature that would let users create personalised usernames, citing concerns that the tool could be exploited for online fraud, phishing and impersonation, the US company published a “frequently asked questions” on X, in an attempt to allay user concerns.

“Just like you can’t search for a phone number in WhatsApp, you can’t search for a username. The best way to prevent someone from contacting you is to add a username key and to choose a username that is unique to WhatsApp,” the company said.