WhatsApp testing new feature to block spam messages

WhatsApp appears to be testing a new feature aimed at trying to limit the spread of chain letter style spam messages and tackle viral fakes spreading on its platform. "These messages may contain unwanted advertising and fake news, and they often invite you to forward the message to your contacts", the website said. It appears if a message is forwarded more than 25 times.

At present, it is possible to select 30 messages at once and forward them, but soon, users will be able to forward the same message only 25 times without any alert. However, there are a couple of instances where they won't realize the message they just got was spam, especially if it's one of those messages which tells them WhatsApp is going to charge money soon.

The amount of messages that a user sends per minute is monitored continuously.

Earlier, WhatsApp had advised their users against opening such spam messages, and not to click on the links. You should also avoid messages that ask you to click on a link or forward information.

By introducing the new feature, WhatsApp is continuing its quest to crack down on spam and hoax messaging being circulated on its messaging platform. We are awaiting further details. With an extremely high number of messages per minute the user will be marked as spam.

The WhatsApp issue was discovered on January 13, as some Twitter users screenshots which read as: "This version of WhatsApp became obsolete on 13 Jan 2018". Interestingly, for some WhatsApp Beta testers, the app also the message "Leave testing program".

When the users visited the Google Playstore to update the app, then they received the message that their app is already up to date.

WhatsApp had to issue a statement, that this was a bug, and they are working on it.

However, if the users want to send the same message to many contacts, WhatsApp will recommend the user to use the Broadcast List feature, where only contacts that have your number in their contact list will be able to see the message. "It was a problem with how our app is distributed, which is not under our control". It says "A message you are forwarding has been forwarded many times".