WhatsApp to block shady numbers

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WhatsApp has agreed to remove the mobile phone numbers that have been used to make fraudulent calls, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union minister for communications, electronics and information technology has said in what could be of relief to a huge number of people who are exposed to this latest episode of a rising tide of swindlers on social media.

“We have actively engaged with WhatsApp and they have agreed that customer safety is most important, and they are absolutely on board to deregister the users that have been detected as fraud users,”the minister said on Tuesday.

India tops the league of nations in terms of WhatsApp users. The number is estimated to be 48.7 crore, which is more than the total populations of the US and Russia combined.

Virtually all WhatsApp users are exposed to this new type of fraud that offers fake job offers to potential victims. Sometimes the assignment would include merely liking some product on the net or write w review of a product or service. Recently many WhatsApp users have been flooded with calls from numbers that appear to be made from countries such as Kenya (+254), Indonesia (+62), Malaysia (+60), Ethiopia (+251), Vietnam (+84).

To gain the confidence of the victim, the fraudsters invite them to join groups on different social media platforms and initially can even make small payments. Then they ask the victims to pay small amounts to get bigger payments later, and suddenly the victim is blocked from the group.

There have been reports that there are websites with the help of which fraudsters generate fake mobile numbers to commit these scams.

Responding to what Vaishnaw said, WhatsApp said that they have already engaged with the government “to consistently ensure a safe and secure user experience.” They also said they would be “weeding out bad actors from the platform.”

Vaishnaw was speaking at the launch of a customer facing sectoral reform. Through a web portal Sanchar Saathi, if a person loses his/her cellphone, he/she would be able to block its use remotely. This service is being made available with the support of Central Equipment Identity Register.

The Union government also launched a AI-powered facial recognition solution for verification of SIM subscribers. Frauds such as theft of identity, forged KYC and banking frauds could take place by misusing cellphones. The main objective of developing the Sanchar Sathi portal is to prevent such frauds.