WhatsApp users in India flooded with spam calls, platform responds

In response to government on International scam calls, a WhatsApp spokesperson said privacy and security of users is fundamental to Meta

Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has now become a new way of duping people. The messaging platform has over two billion active monthly users. 

However, recently, WhatsApp users in India have come forward to report missed calls that they have received from unknown international numbers. 

According to media reports, "These spam calls with international numbers, mostly from African and Southeast Asian countries, along with fake messages from unknown users, have flooded WhatsApp."

The incidents came to light after several Whatsapp users took to Twitter to share their plight and shared screen grabs of their call records and flooded Twitter with complaints and grievances.

Following these concerns, Meta-owned platform has now issued a statement and has advised users to immediately block and report these accounts.

In response to the Government of India on International scam calls, a WhatsApp 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."

The spokesperson further said that 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 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% 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."

Given that users in India have been left at risk of financial loss, they have also been advised to take benefit of the app's privacy control and keep personal details restricted to their contacts in order to help safeguard their accounts. 

WhatsApp has also launched a campaign, "Stay safe with WhatsApp", to make users aware of its in-built product features and safety tools.

Here's how you can block any number on WhatsApp:

-Open the chat of the particular contact one wishes to block

-Click on the three dots option, which is available on the top, next to the calling option

-Click on tap more and choose the block option.

All the contacts blocked on WhatsApp will not be able to send users any messages or calls.