The Policia Nacional has issued a warning over a WhatsApp scam that uses disappearing photographs to lure victims into an extortion attempt.

The scam begins when a user receives a ‘view once’ photograph from an unknown telephone number.

At first glance, the message may appear to have been sent accidentally.

However, police warn that opening the image can signal to the scammer that they have found an active potential victim.

‘Don’t open the photo. Don’t do it if an unknown number sends it to you,’ a Policia Nacional officer warns in a video shared on social media.

According to police, the image will often contain sensitive or compromising material and can only be viewed once through WhatsApp’s disappearing-media feature.

Once the criminal detects that the photograph has been opened, they allegedly make contact again.

‘The criminal sends you a second message saying that they made a mistake and may even threaten you for having seen it,’ the officer explains.

The scam then escalates into an attempted extortion.

The victim may be told they could face supposed repercussions for viewing the image, with the scammer demanding money in exchange for not taking further action.

Police stress that the threats are simply designed to frighten the recipient into paying.

‘What they want is to scam you,’ the officer says.

The advice from the Policia Nacional is to not engage with suspicious messages from unknown numbers, even if they initially appear harmless.

Anyone receiving such a message should block the contact and report the account through WhatsApp rather than replying or sending money.

The warning comes as criminals increasingly exploit messaging services and social networks to impersonate other people and manipulate victims into handing over personal information, account credentials or cash.

Traditional forms of online fraud include phishing through fraudulent emails and websites, smishing through text or messaging services and vishing through telephone calls.