Security News > 2020 > March > WhatsApp “Martinelli” hoax is back, warning about “Dance of the Pope”
2020-03-23 17:49
An IT colleague has advised that a video comes out tomorrow from WhatsApp called martinelli do not open it , it hacks your phone and nothing will fix it.
If you receive a message to update the WhatsApp to WhatsApp Gold, do not click!!!!!
So WhatsApp Gold was actual malware, and the advice to avoid it was valid, so the initiator of the Martinelli hoax used it to give an element of legitimacy to their otherwise fake warning about the video.
Ironically, Snopes suggests that this piece of the hoax - which is basically the same as the Martinelli hoax but with a different video name - is even older than the Martinelli part, dating back to 2015.
For all you know, the BBC didn't mention it at all, or announced it as part of a hoax warning.