WhatsApp has announced that it has rolled out back-end fixes to address the issue of spam calls that have been plaguing users in India in recent weeks. The Meta-owned chat company says that the new measures will help to reduce the number of spam calls by at least 50%.
Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of spam calls from international numbers being received by WhatsApp users in India. The majority of these calls come with country codes belonging to Indonesia (62), Vietnam (84), Malaysia (60), Kenya (254), and Ethiopia (251). Many users have expressed their concerns on Twitter regarding this issue.
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In response to the situation, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for IT, said that the IT Ministry will issue a notice to WhatsApp regarding the problem of spam calls from unknown international numbers. The minister said that the government takes any alleged misuse or breach of users’ privacy seriously and will take appropriate action in response.
Now WhatsApp has responded to this saying that users’ privacy is fundamental to Meta and to WhatsApp. The company asserted that its services are end-to-end encrypted and it is fully aligned with the government’s goal of keeping users safe.WhatsApp has ramped up its AI and ML systems to cut down on spam calls.
“We continue to provide several safety tools within WhatsApp like Block & Report, consistently build user safety education and awareness, as well as, proactively weed out bad-actors from our platform. However, bad actors find different ways to scam users. International scam calls is a new way that bad actors have recently adopted. By giving a missed call, they lead curious users to call or message back only to get scammed. Therefore, we have quickly ramped up our AI & ML systems to bring down such incidents significantly. Our new enforcement will reduce the current calling rate by at least 50% and we expect to be able to control the current incidence effectively. We will continue to work relentlessly towards ensuring a safe experience for our users,” said the company’s spokesperson.
ALSO READ l Government to examine WhatsApp’s breach of privacy: Rajeev Chandrasekhar
In the meantime, WhatsApp users can take steps to protect themselves from spam calls. These include never answering calls from unknown numbers. It is advisable not to give out personal information like name, address, phone number, or credit card information.Be careful about clicking on links in text messages or emails. These links could lead to malicious websites that could infect your device with malware. Report spam calls to WhatsApp. You can do this by going to the Settings menu, selecting Account, and then selecting Privacy. Under Calls, select Report spam.
WhatsApp has announced that it has rolled out back-end fixes to address the issue of spam calls that have been plaguing users in India in recent weeks. The Meta-owned chat company says that the new measures will help to reduce the number of spam calls by at least 50%.
Recently, there has been a significant increase in the number of spam calls from international numbers being received by WhatsApp users in India. The majority of these calls come with country codes belonging to Indonesia (62), Vietnam (84), Malaysia (60), Kenya (254), and Ethiopia (251). Many users have expressed their concerns on Twitter regarding this issue.
ALSO READ l DoT taps Meta amid rise in spam calls on WhatsApp
In response to the situation, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Minister of State for IT, said that the IT Ministry will issue a notice to WhatsApp regarding the problem of spam calls from unknown international numbers. The minister said that the government takes any alleged misuse or breach of users’ privacy seriously and will take appropriate action in response.
Now WhatsApp has responded to this saying that users’ privacy is fundamental to Meta and to WhatsApp. The company asserted that its services are end-to-end encrypted and it is fully aligned with the government’s goal of keeping users safe.WhatsApp has ramped up its AI and ML systems to cut down on spam calls.
“We continue to provide several safety tools within WhatsApp like Block & Report, consistently build user safety education and awareness, as well as, proactively weed out bad-actors from our platform. However, bad actors find different ways to scam users. International scam calls is a new way that bad actors have recently adopted. By giving a missed call, they lead curious users to call or message back only to get scammed. Therefore, we have quickly ramped up our AI & ML systems to bring down such incidents significantly. Our new enforcement will reduce the current calling rate by at least 50% and we expect to be able to control the current incidence effectively. We will continue to work relentlessly towards ensuring a safe experience for our users,” said the company’s spokesperson.
ALSO READ l Government to examine WhatsApp’s breach of privacy: Rajeev Chandrasekhar
In the meantime, WhatsApp users can take steps to protect themselves from spam calls. These include never answering calls from unknown numbers. It is advisable not to give out personal information like name, address, phone number, or credit card information.Be careful about clicking on links in text messages or emails. These links could lead to malicious websites that could infect your device with malware. Report spam calls to WhatsApp. You can do this by going to the Settings menu, selecting Account, and then selecting Privacy. Under Calls, select Report spam.