A Cuban content creator identified as Luis Manresa recorded and posted this Thursday on Facebook the live call with a scammer who attempted to steal access to his WhatsApp account under the pretext of selling him solar panels, in what he referred to as his "number 8 call" to these criminals.
The video accumulated over 451,000 views and sparked hundreds of comments from Cubans who acknowledged having experienced similar situations or knowing direct victims.
In the recording, the scammer was guiding Manresa to access the "Linked Devices" option on WhatsApp and dictating his phone number under the pretext of sending a "verification code" for the alleged purchase of solar panels.
Manresa detected the maneuver in time and confronted the criminal. "What you’re doing here is putting my WhatsApp on your machine. Are you going to link my WhatsApp to your PC? What do you want to do? To ask people for money?" he exposed him.
The method involves cloning the victim's WhatsApp account to then contact their family and friends, impersonating them and requesting money transfers.
At the end of the video, Manresa urged his followers to spread the recording. "Save the video, share it, and send it to your mom, your dad, your grandma, your grandpa, or that neighbor who's lost, because they are the ones who mostly fall for this."
The comments on the video indicate that this phenomenon is widespread. One person recounted that their sister lost money because some of her contacts transferred funds, thinking it was her requesting them, and that the police responded that they "do not get involved in that."
Another commentator claimed to have recordings of at least two similar attempts and called for action from the authorities: "The police need to take this seriously and stop the people, as those individuals are causing havoc."
A third person recounted having dodged the deception: "They already tried it with me, they messed up, they need to change their tactics, we don't fall for it anymore, my dears."
This scam is part of a rise in solar panel frauds in Cuba documented since June, driven by the most severe energy crisis the island has faced in decades.
Also this Friday, a Cuban reported that scammers cloned her mother's voice using artificial intelligence to try to steal 1,600 dollars in another solar panel purchase.
In June, a Cuban resident in the United States lost $6,000 in a scam that combined WhatsApp hacking with AI-manipulated photos to simulate the delivery of an electric tricycle in Holguín.
The Credit and Commerce Bank (Bandec) issued an alert in April regarding the hacking of WhatsApp through verification codes, while warning that no legitimate procedure requires sharing such codes. Meanwhile, the Artemisa branch of the company Copextel formally clarified that it does not notify beneficiaries of solar panels nor does it require advance payments.
According to data cited in reports from April, scams on social media have resulted in losses of 2.1 billion pesos in Cuba, a figure that reflects the magnitude of a problem to which authorities have not provided an effective response.
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