Truecaller chief said that the feature is currently in beta version and is expected to launch late this month.
Swedish multinational smartphone application Truecaller could soon start making its caller identification service available on WhatsApp and other messaging apps, Reuters reported today. The collaboration would help users identify potential spam calls over the internet, it added.
Quoting Truecaller chief executive officer Alan Mamedi, the media organization reported that the feature is currently in beta version and a global rollout can be expected later this month. With its spam detection technology, Truecaller lets users spot and take action, like blocking, on accounts engaging in abnormal and problematic behavior.
The move comes as several WhatsApp users across the country have started reporting about getting calls and messages from scammers to dupe them. In a clarification to NDTV, WhatsApp said that it has made significant product investments over the year and has launched user awareness campaigns that empower them to stay safe. The Meta-owned social media platform added that an important step to effectively combat scams is Blocking and Reporting suspicious messages and calls.
Additionally, the instant messaging platform banned more than 4.7 million accounts in the month of March alone. WhatsApp is also said to have launched a safety campaign called “Stay safe with WhatsApp” to educate users about its in-built product features and safety tools.
Meanwhile, according to a 2021 Global Spam & Scam Report by Truecaller, users get an average of around 17 spam calls per month. The report highlighted that the majority of all spam in the country are sales or telemarketing calls (93.5%) and one of the most common scams in India was the KYC (know your customer) scam where fraudsters pretend to be banking official who asks users for their KYC documents. A typical way through which scammers operate in the country, as highlighted in the report, is to lure victims under some pretext like OTPs, online sales, or lotteries and get them to download a remote access app or link which eventually leads to a huge loss of their money.
