A new survey has revealed that 46 percent of respondents said that they have been receiving audio or video calls from unknown numbers on WhatsApp, while 59 percent said that the calls primarily came from international numbers from countries such as Ethiopia, Malaysia, Kenya, and Vietnam.
To gauge the extent of the issue, LocalCircles, a citizen engagement platform, conducted a national survey. Nearly 23,000 WhatsApp users from 323 districts in India participated in the survey.
About 83 percent have reported an increase in such calls in the last 30 days. Additionally, four percent of the respondents, who had previously not received such calls, reported now being targeted.
The country code displayed on the calls does not necessarily indicate their origin and the calls are often from fraudsters trying to lure users with promises of easy jobs, like cash for YouTube video likes.
The survey indicated that 37 percent of respondents received calls from mostly international numbers, with some domestic numbers mixed in. Meanwhile, 23 percent reported scam calls mostly from domestic numbers, along with a few international numbers. Another 22 percent received calls exclusively from international numbers, and 18 percent received calls solely from domestic numbers.
“There is a very real possibility of these calls originating from India with international numbers being used to mask the Indian number. It is time the authorities and regulators stepped into the picture to probe and curb this menace that holds the threat of possible financial, sextortion and other frauds with possible widespread consequences. Many such instances are reported regularly on social media and to the authorities at various levels,” LocalCircles said in its report.
Minister of State for MEITY, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, has already announced that the IT ministry will be issuing a notice to WhatsApp, emphasising the platform's responsibility to ensure user protection. The government is also investigating the methods used to identify and access these WhatsApp numbers.
WhatsApp, in its defense, issued a statement asserting its commitment to user safety. The messaging and calling platform highlighted its "stay safe with WhatsApp" campaign, which educates users about built-in safety features such as two-step verification, blocking, reporting, and privacy controls. The company, owned by Meta, stated that it has strengthened its Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) systems to significantly reduce such incidents.
First Published: May 18, 2023 2:18 PM IST
