WHATSAPP users have been urged to urgently follow three rules to protect accounts from scammers.

The instant messaging app has over three billion active users, making it a huge target for cyber criminals.

And Action Fraud has warned users that there has been a huge surge in reports of Whatsapp takeovers, where fraudsters gain access to the account and send messages to contacts with the aim of stealing data and money.

Scammers often also lock people out of their accounts, so they can't send warnings to friends and family members to tell them they've been hacked.

In a post on X, Action Fraud said: "Protect your WhatsApp account against hackers.

"We continue to see a rise in the number of reports relating to WhatsApp account takeovers."

So how can you protect your account from scams?

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