WhatsApp Launches Usernames — India Flags Fraud Risk as the Handle Land-Grab Begins

WhatsApp has begun rolling out usernames — the biggest change to how people identify themselves on the app since it launched. Announced on 29 June 2026, the feature lets you share an @handle instead of your phone number, and reservations opened the same week ahead of a country-by-country launch over the coming months.

The shift is significant: for seventeen years your WhatsApp identity was your phone number. Now a username can stand in its place, with your number staying hidden from new contacts while remaining tied to the account for login and recovery. There is no public directory — someone needs your exact handle to reach you — and an optional Username Key adds a further anti-spam layer.

But the launch has landed straight into controversy. On 1 July 2026, India's Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) asked WhatsApp to put the feature on hold, warning it could increase online fraud, phishing, digital-arrest scams and impersonation, and giving the company three days to explain. In early testing, lookalike handles resembling public figures and institutions were reportedly still available to grab, and several Indian founders said close variations of their own names were taken within days. Others counter that the impersonation risk should be weighed against a genuine privacy benefit — and that fraud is best met by enforcing the law, not blocking a feature.

For businesses, two things matter right now. First, handles are first-come, first-served, with no domain-style dispute system to reclaim a squatted brand name — so reserving your business handle early is the practical defence. Second, a technical change called the Business-Scoped User ID (BSUID) means CRMs, bots and automation tools must be ready to identify username-first customers without relying on the phone number.

We've put together a full, plain-English guide for business owners — how to reserve your handle step by step, the exact username rules, the privacy-vs-impersonation debate, the trademark gap around brand squatting, and what BSUID means for your tools.

Read the full guide: WhatsApp Username 2026 — How to Reserve Yours, the Rules & What It Means for Your Business →