Jeff Bezos' phone 'hacked' by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman: Report

Amazon founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jeff Bezos had his mobile phone “hacked” in 2018 after receiving a WhatsApp message. The message was apparently sent from the personal account of Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman, The Guardian reported.

The report citing digital forensic analysis suggests that the encrypted message from the account used by Mohammed bin Salman, or “MBS” as he is commonly referred to, is believed to have included a malicious file which infiltrated Bezos’s phone.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Within hours, large amounts of data were taken from the phone of the world’s richest person. It is unclear what kind of data was stolen and how it was used.

Forensic analysis reportedly found that it was “highly probable” that the hacking was triggered by an infected video file sent from the Saudi Crown Prince’s number to Bezos.

Sources told The Guardian on condition of anonymity that the message with the unsolicited file had been received on May 1, 2018 when the two were having a seemingly friendly exchange on the instant messaging application.

This comes at a time when MBS is attempting to lure investors from across the world to invest in the oil-rich kingdom in a bid to transform and diversify Saudi Arabia’s economy. He is the first in line to the Saudi throne.