It’s helped us stay in touch with our friends and family during these uncertain times but Houseparty users are claiming that they’ve been hacked via the popular app.
Large numbers of people have been taking to social media to urge users to delete their Houseparty accounts after hackers apparently used the app to access their Spotify, Pay Pal and Netflix accounts.
One user, @john_adair_, took to Twitter to write: “The house party app hacked my phone and subscribed me to amazon music – it’s hacking a lot of other peoples phones just search ‘houseparty’ on twitter. Make sure to delete your account before actually deleting the app – and go onto sc and unlink under ‘connected app.”
User @_evelouisa added: “If anyone has the app houseparty delete it, it’s been hacking my Instagram, Uber, Spotify, eBay and Paypal!!! I’m not the only person this has happened to as well.”
Houseparty immediately took to their social media page to respond to the claims, writing: “All Houseparty accounts are safe – the service is secure, has never been compromised, and doesn’t collect passwords for other sites.”
When GLAMOUR reached out to the social platform to ask for a comment on the hacking claims, they said: “We’ve found no evidence to suggest a link between Houseparty and the compromises of other unrelated accounts. As a general rule, we suggest all users choose strong passwords when creating online accounts on any platform. Use a unique password for each account, and use a password generator or password manager to keep track of passwords, rather than using passwords that are short and simple.”
Many users have been deleting the app, which lets friends and family make video calls, play games and hang out in a virtual “house party” – and complaining how lengthy the deletion process is.
Brian Higgins, a cyber-security specialist from Comparitech, told The Sun that the supposed hacking could all just be a coincidence, explaining: “There is a rising wave of cybercrime activity directly linked to the global uptake of group social media platforms now that everyone is in isolation.
“I’d definitely recommend deleting any apps you think may be causing you and your contacts harm. However, in this case I’d give Houseparty a chance to investigate and explain what’s happening.
“They’re clearly providing a vital service to people’s mental health and wellbeing.”
We’ll keep you updated with any new developments.