In fact, Click to Chat links are not QR codes but URLs that are manually constructed from a phone number. https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/chats/how-to-use-cli

In fact, Click to Chat links are not QR codes but URLs that are manually constructed from a phone number. https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/chats/how-to-use-click-to-chat/ https://faq.whatsapp.com/general/chats/how-to-use-click-to-c... Of course, you can generate a QR code from this URL using third-party tools, which I think is what's happening here. Click to Chat's stated purpose is to allow you to chat to someone whose phone number you know, but you don't want to add them to your address book. Clearly, some people are using it for a different purpose – to make it easier for other people to send them WhatsApp message. Maybe WhatsApp should be clearer about the dangers of sharing a URL containing your phone number, but it seems like a useful feature when used for their intended purpose.