Beware users! Read this before you switch to 'WhatsApp Gold'

If a message pops up on your phone saying something similar to this, don’t follow the link provided:

“Hey. Finally Secret Whatsapp golden version has been leaked. This version is used only by big celebrities. Now we can use it too”.

Whatsapp Gold :/ pic.twitter.com/NAcVz7hlam

— Abhi (@jhootha_hi_sahi) May 11, 2016

The fake app (supposedly only previously available to celebrities) boasts of providing extra features such as video chats and the tantalising option to delete messages from people’s phones after you’ve sent them. Instead, unsuspecting users will only be infecting their mobiles with malware.

Read: WhatsApp messenger launched in Urdu

This could allow cybercriminals to infiltrate your phone and access your data, as well as track your location and activities.

😹😹 Whatsapp 4G? Yawa!! #SOS pic.twitter.com/SjjSC6Na70

— Elektrolyte (@julimuffn) May 15, 2016

This is the but the latest version of the scam that previously offered malware disguised as apps such as ‘Whatsapp Plus’.

Not only that, the authentic Whatsapp will ban you from using the service if it detects unauthorised software of this nature.

How to avoid WhatsApp virus

The latest WhatsApp scam isn’t delivered by WhatsApp itself but through your email app on your Android phone or iPhone. It tells you that you have missed a WhatsApp call or have a WhatsApp voice message, which you should click on the link in the email to access. Rather than your message, you get a virus downloaded to your device.

Don’t be fooled. WhatsApp will never contact you outside the WhatsApp app itself, so if you see this then do not click the link and delete the message.