WhatsApp open source intelligence investigation methods (2)

Related: WhatsApp open source intelligence investigation method (1)

Download WhatsApp profile picture

Profile pictures of WhatsApp users can be downloaded by using the WhatsApp web version.

After setting up WhatsApp Web Edition on your device first, you can find your previous chats in the left menu.

To find a phone number that has been added to the contact list, search for the contact name in the search field. You can right-click on an image in the left menu without opening a new chat window.

Alternatively, you can use the URL to determine if a phone number is registered with WhatsApp. if a phone number is registered with WhatsApp, a blank chat window will open, allowing you to extract their image.

Click on the profile photo in the Contact Information section to open a full-size version of the image.

Or, right-click on an image in the Contacts list or in the Contact section and select Open in new tab to look up the URL of the image.

WhatsApp search operators

WhatsApp content can be searched for using advanced search operators on search engines. However, results may be limited and depend on the chat link posted on the page.

· chat.whatsapp.com "topics"

Searching by WhatsApp chats and topics (e.g. chat.whatsapp.com "cricket") allows investigators to search for any public group chat that may be relevant to the topic of their investigation.



· Site:http://instagram.com

http://chat.whatsapp.com AND "name"

Searching on Instagram, investigators can search for topics or business names, such as on:

http://instagram.com

http://chat.whatsapp.com AND "Traders Club" to find if there are linked chats pointing to any WhatsApp.



· Site:http://4chan.org

http://chat.whatsapp.com AND "phrase"

Searching on 4Chan forums, investigators can search for a topic, such as on Site: http://4chan.org

http://chat.whatsapp.com "Origami", to determine if open groups are shared that may be related to the topic under investigation chat history.