WhatsApp Users Tricked Into Installing Italian Spyware

WhatsApp has notified approximately 200 users that they installed a counterfeit version of the app—which was actually spyware made by an Italian government surveillance company.

Meta, which owns WhatsApp, discovered the fake app and alerted the affected users. The spyware appears to have been designed to look identical to the real messaging app, tricking people into downloading it instead.

The malicious software came from Italy, a country with a documented history of developing and deploying surveillance tools. Government spyware makers have repeatedly created convincing fakes of popular apps to infiltrate user devices and monitor communications.

WhatsApp did not disclose how users were led to download the fake version or what personal data may have been compromised. The company said it identified the fraudulent app and took action to notify victims.