Gardian Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 I’ve been told by a friend this evening that a video is to be launched tomorrow in Whatsapp called ‘Martinelli’.If you receive a message to update ‘Whatsapp Gold’, do not open it. The virus will zap your phone and nothing you can do will fix it.The ‘news’ has apparently been on UK News today, so may not be new info for a lot of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Unfortunately, Gardian, your friend has been sucked in by a hoax.https://www.hoax-slayer.net/whatsapp-gold-and-martinelli-how-a-valid-warning-got-mixed-up-with-a-silly-hoax/This has been doing the rounds for some while. Always worth warning people just in case, but always worth checking to see what the wider internet might have to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 From Sophos .. my mobile AV .. Here’s a WhatsApp chain letter that’s been making the rounds:Unfortunately, it’s only half rubbish. It’s a cocktail of one shot of bogus and one shot of authentic “yikes!” …It includes:A fictional threat: the “martinelli” video, supposedly carrying virus and mayhem.A real threat: WhatsApp Gold, a supposedly premium service offered by WhatsApp that’s anything but.So .. in the inimitable words of the sergeant in the US police series : .?. Blues : be careful out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted January 3, 2019 Author Share Posted January 3, 2019 Oops - sorry all.Worth a warning though & egg on my face is no problem !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Nowt wrong wi’ a bit uv egg in a good cause!Thank you for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 Guardian wrote : Worth a warning though & egg on my face is no problem !! Absolutely .. and you were 1/2 right, so better safe than sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 As I once said to an ‘overenthusiastic’ girlfriend!?Remember: half an egg is no yolk!Boumboum, every egg a bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Is this about the phrase "What's up?" now misused to mean something like "Hello" by Americans, instead of meaning "what is the matter" as in British English? Or is is it about something even more foreign to me?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cajal Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 [quote user="NormanH"]Or is is it about something even more foreign to me??[/quote]Whatsapp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomme Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Use Signal https://signal.org instead. It is Opensource software.Not owned by Facebook, unlike Whatsapp, so the likelihood of adverts is zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Interesting, pomme, but:I've used WhatsApp for many years now and not once seen an advert on it, andHow does one persuade one's entire contact list to move away from WhatsApp so one can contact them on another platform?Have just had to spend a few months using WeChat because I've been in touch with a relative in China and there's no alternative, and the experience was painful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pomme Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 You may not have seen any yet, but just search for "whatsapp adverts 2019" and you will see Facebook (the Whatsapp owner) will start doing so on the status screen this year. Unfortunately there is no easy way of getting contacts to switch to Signal except by sending them a message from Signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Thanks for that. I did a search and indeed there's plenty of stuff saying it's going to happen. Hopefully it will have no discernible effect for me and many like me, who have never used the status page. I guess only time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 Ads in emails - coming to an app near you soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Théière Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 It's easy to get ones connections to swap platform. Just ask if they are all fed up with the advertising. This site is bad enough. Blooming screen jumps around until the last ad has finally finished loading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I'm optimistic then. I've managed to largely eliminate ads on here, both on android and iOS, so if I can do the same with WhatsApp (If I ever see any ads in the first place) it'll be fine. It would be nice if more companies gave the choice of paying a small fee to be ad-free like Amazon do when you buy a kindle. Unlikely, but one can hope.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judith Posted January 5, 2019 Share Posted January 5, 2019 I've got amaaaazingly !!!! good at ignoring adverts - completely, even on my kindle. Only use what's app for one person as it seems it is the only way she can receive any communications from me - email never works with her for some unknown reason .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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