New Delhi [India], May 11 : WhatsApp is fully aligned with the Indian government's goal of keeping users safe, the spokesperson said over international scam calls and ensured that their new enforcement will reduce the current calling rate by at least 50 per cent.
Responding to the Indian Government's call to send notice to WhatsApp on International scam calls, the Spokesperson said, "Protecting the privacy and security of users is fundamental to Meta and to WhatsApp. Our users are at the heart of everything we do and we are fully aligned with the Government's goal of keeping users safe."
"WhatsApp is a leader among end-to-end encrypted services in protecting user safety. We continue to provide several safety tools within WhatsApp like Block and Report, consistently build user safety education and awareness, as well as, proactively weed out bad actors from our platform," the spokesperson added.
WhatsApp Spokesperson further stated that users with bad intentions can find different ways to scam the users. International scam calls are 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 per cent 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," the spokesperson added.
On Wednesday, Home Ministry's Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) circulated the alert regarding WhatsApp numbers starting with +254, +84, +63 or other international numbers.
Experts in data analysis and forensics, who are working relentlessly for the government to curb the menace, told that such international numbers have "Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia" origin and unscrupulous elements could steal financial data.
"This is a new cybercrime trend. People across India irrespective of their profession have been receiving calls and missed calls on WhatsApp from +254, +84, +63, +1(218) or other international numbers, and some of them have become victims of cybercrime. It has become more frequent," an expert in cyber intelligence and digital forensics told on condition of anonymity.
Another expert in cyber intelligence and digital forensics, who works with the government, suggested that people should "report and block numbers like +254, +84, +63 or other international numbers if there is missed call alert or calls on WhatsApp."
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