Deputy Minister of Justice Arkadiusz Myrcha warned on X that messages containing a link to a purported poll had been sent from his WhatsApp account. He urged people not to open the link and stated that the incident had been reported. CERT Polska pointed out that a similar campaign is used to take over accounts on the messaging app. Myrcha continues to serve as Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice.
This method does not necessarily involve infecting the phone with a virus. Fraudsters direct the victim to a competition or voting page, and then persuade them to scan a QR code or enter a code used to link a new device to their WhatsApp account. Once they have gained access, they send further messages to the victim’s contacts, exploiting the victim’s credibility.
This case is part of a marked rise in social engineering-based cybercrime. CERT Polskarecorded 260,783 incidents in 2025, 152 per cent more than the previous year. As many as 97 per cent of these were computer frauds. Meta, meanwhile, has begun rolling out additional warnings in WhatsApp when suspicious attempts are made to link devices.
For businesses and organisations, the key takeaway is that private messaging apps have become part of their business and reputational infrastructure. The compromise of a manager’s, official’s or employee’s account can trigger a wave of phishing scams, expose the organisation to a loss of trust and make it difficult to determine which messages are genuine.
Once a takeover has been detected, all unauthorised devices must be logged out immediately, contacts must be alerted, and suspicious content must be reported to CERT Polska. Encrypting the messaging app alone does not protect against social engineering. The most important measures remain verifying unusual requests and exercising caution with QR codes and access codes.
