A new malicious WhatsApp 'text bomb' can block off access to your apps and crash your entire smartphone, media reports said.
The virus affects both iPhones and Android phones. It occurs when a specific message is sent to handsets. And it's even more dangerous than the infamous smartphone-crashing Telugu alphabet text from February, because this new SMS doesn't even need to be opened. Just receiving it can trigger your handset to switch off.
Revealed on Reddit, the message reads "This is very interesting!" and signs off with the popular "face with tears of joy" emoji.\
Lurking within this seemingly innocent text are tens of thousands of invisible "left-to-right" and "right-to-left" control characters that can derail your device, according to Neowin.
Tricksters wishing to circulate the text bomb are advised to copy it from the Pastebin website and share it via the WhatsApp Web app for desktop.
Why anyone would want to play such a dastardly prank on others is beyond us, and we'd certainly not advise anyone to share the text.
If you're on the receiving end of the new text bomb, you may find that your iPhone or Android phone becomes unresponsive. You won't be able to open WhastApp and other messaging apps may be inaccessible too. To make matters worse, your phone could crash, forcing you to restart it. But fortunately, it doesn't seem as though the WhatsApp bug will wipe your handset or require you to completely reboot the device.
The previous text bomb was caused by a symbol from the Telugu language, a Dravidian language spoken in India.
It disabled access to iMessage, Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, Outlook and Gmail and if received sent the device into a frenzy by causing the iOS Springboard - which manages the iPhone's homescreen - to crash.
