Malaysian home minister’s WhatsApp hacked, used to scam contacts

Malaysia’s home minister had his WhatsApp account hacked and then abused to send malicious links to his contacts, according to police.

The attacker reportedly used a virtual private network (VPN) to compromise the account of Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail, authorities said at a press conference on Friday, adding that no victims have reported financial losses so far. They did not elaborate on how the hack was carried out.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversees law enforcement, immigration and censorship, confirmed the incident and urged the public not to respond to any messages or calls claiming to be from the minister, especially those involving financial or personal requests.

The breach is under investigation and law enforcement is working to determine the hacker’s location.

Mobile phishing scams have become increasingly common in Malaysia. Local media have reported that citizens are frequently targeted by fraudsters posing as police, bank officials or court representatives. 

The recent WhatsApp incident follows similar attacks on other high-ranking officials. In March, scammers hijacked the WhatsApp account of parliamentary speaker Johari Abdul and tricked some of his contacts into sending money. In 2022, threat actors accessed Telegram and Signal accounts belonging to former Prime Minister Ismail Sabri. And in 2015, hackers took over the Royal Malaysia Police’s Twitter and Facebook accounts, posting pro-Islamic State group messages.

Nasution Ismail faced online criticism and ridicule following the WhatsApp hack, with local media reporting that citizens questioned the strength of Malaysia’s cybersecurity measures, given that the country’s top security official had been successfully targeted by hackers.