Home Ministry asks citizens to block unwanted international calls on WhatsApp
The Home Ministry’s Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre has alerted citizens to report and block missed calls, messages, or calls on WhatsApp from 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 said that such international numbers have “Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia” origins.
A WhatsApp spokesperson, in a statement, has asked users to immediately block and report such suspicious numbers so that the company can take the appropriate action against them.
The statement reads, “At WhatsApp, the safety of our users is at the core of everything we do and we have devoted efforts to empower users with resources and tools that equip them to safeguard themselves from scams. WhatsApp is an industry leader in preventing abuse, among end-to-end encrypted messaging services and over the years we have made significant product investments and launched user awareness campaigns that empower users to stay safe. Blocking and Reporting suspicious messages/ calls is an important step to effectively combat scams and when users receive calls from unknown international or domestic phone numbers, WhatsApp provides a convenient way to block and report suspicious accounts. It’s important to report these accounts to WhatsApp so that we can take the required action against and ban them from the platform. Users can also control who sees their personal details and their online presence by using our privacy controls. Keeping your personal details visible to only your contacts can help safeguard your account against bad actors."
"Additionally, we have consistently invested in Artificial Intelligence and other state of the art technology, data scientists and experts, and in processes, in order to keep our users safe on our platform. Our monthly user safety report that we publish in accordance with the IT Rules 2021, contains details of the user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as WhatsApp’s own preventive actions to combat abuse on our platform. As captured in the latest Monthly Report, WhatsApp banned over 4.7 million accounts in the month of March alone.”
See What’s Next in Tech With the Fast Forward Newsletter
Tweets From @varindiamag
Nothing to see here - yet
When they Tweet, their Tweets will show up here.