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For years, sharing a WhatsApp contact meant giving away your phone number either sending it directly or sharing the contact. That is about to change.
WhatsApp is preparing to launch usernames feature, allowing people to connect without revealing their personal numbers. The feature is expected to improve privacy and make it easier to chat with new contacts.
But even before its official rollout, cybersecurity experts and government officials are warning that the update could open the door to a new wave of impersonation scams.
Some users have already been invited to reserve their usernames. WhatsApp says businesses, creators and organizations will be able to claim usernames that match their identities across platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. However, questions remain over how the company will verify ownership and stop bad actors from registering lookalike usernames.
The concerns are particularly significant in South Asian countries like India, WhatsApp’s largest market with more than 853 million users.
A TechCrunch test found that several username variations linked to high-profile figures, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bollywood stars Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan, were still available, raising fears that scammers could exploit similar names to fool users.
The issue gained more attention after Binance founder Changpeng Zhao said he was unable to reserve his own username. He warned followers that if anyone contacts them on WhatsApp using his name, they should treat it with suspicion because it may not be him.
Security experts say this reflects a familiar pattern. Whenever messaging platforms introduce new identity features, fraudsters are often among the first to exploit them by creating fake accounts that appear trustworthy.
One crypto influencer on X summed up the concern, writing: “Scammers move faster than new features. A reserved username does not mean it is official.”
The warnings have also reached regulators. According to TechCrunch, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has asked WhatsApp to delay the username rollout until concerns over phishing, online fraud and impersonation are addressed.
For millions of users, the feature could become a welcome privacy upgrade by reducing the need to share phone numbers. But experts say users should remain cautious, verify the identity of anyone who contacts them unexpectedly and avoid assuming that a familiar username belongs to the real person.
As WhatsApp prepares one of its biggest identity changes in years, the success of the feature may depend not only on convenience but also on how effectively the platform prevents scammers from taking advantage of it.
