Fake warning claims Whatsapp video called martinelli can hack your phone

A warning is spreading on social media that warns readers about a video on WhatsApp called “martinelli” claiming that it hacks your phone in 10 seconds. The warning also makes reference to the “bluewhale hackers”.

Many versions of this rumour exist. In 2017, the rumours came attached to another warning about malicious links called “popcorn carnival”. Other versions of this hoax include a phone number and claim it is related to the “Blue Whale” game. A 2018 example claims the warning was issued by the An Garda, the police force in Ireland, while a similar version claims the warning came from an “IT colleague” of the author. Examples can be seen below –

Bluewhale hackers: They say that tomorrow a video comes out by whatsapp, it’s called martinelli, do not open it, it hacks your phone in 10 seconds and it can not be stopped in any way. Pass the data to your friends.
Dont click any link naming “popcorn carnival”.Its the hidden link for the blue whale challenge. They’ll hack ur mobile and blackmail you to play blue whale game…share as much as possible.dont be lazy to share…may be ur friends r relative may suffer.

Bluewhale hackers: They say that tomorrow a video comes out by whatsapp, it’s called martinelli, do not open it, it hacks your phone in 10 seconds and it can not be stopped in any way. Pass the data to your friends.
Blue whale game has started using a phone number please don’t call or receive any call or message from this blue whale number +917574999093 Forward this to as much contact as possible.

Warning from An Garda. An IT expert has advised that a video comes out tomorrow from WhatsApp called martinelli do not open it , it hacks your phone and nothing will fix it. Spread the word

If you know anyone using WhatsApp you might pass this on. An IT colleague has advised that a video comes out tomorrow from WhatsApp called martinelli do not open it, it hacks your phone and nothing will fix it. Spread the word. If you receive a message to update “Whatsapp” to “Whatsapp Gold” do not click !!!! Now said on the news this virus is difficult and severe. Pass it on to all…

The last version of this warning above also advises users not to click links claiming to lead to “WhatsApp Gold”, which is actually a valid piece of advice since scammers often try and trick victims into clicking dodgy links by claiming they can get “WhatsApp Gold”. But because it comes attached to this nonsense warning, we don’t recommend circulating it.

The rumours are just the latest in a long string of useless hacker or virus warnings that circulate the interwebs every day.

The claim that a video or link can “hack your phone in 10 seconds” is just vague and alarmist nonsense, and is just another permutation of earlier hoaxes that make equally as spurious claims, including the popular Dance with the Pope video virus hoax.

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We can find no reports of genuine threats that relate to the poorly-worded warnings above. There are no mentions of criminals using any videos or links with the word “martinelli” and there is no such group as the “bluewhale hackers” as mentioned in these warnings. (The Blue Whale game is likely in reference to an online “game” that was linked to a string of teen suicides in Russia.)

Additionally the phone number attached to some versions of the warning leads to India but appears not to reference a real phone number.

The reference on some versions of the warning that mention a malicious link called “popcorn carnival” is also a hoax that actually spread earlier in 2017, which we discussed here.

While the threats of viruses are real, vague and ambiguous warnings such as the one above don’t provide any help, and serve to confuse readers. Effective warnings should accurately describe threats, where they will appear, how they work and how to avoid them, and of course the threats they describe should be real. The above warnings fail on all counts.