WhatsApp claims new AI efforts reduce international spam calls by at least 50%

WhatsApp said it proactively weed out bad-actors from its platform and provide several safety tools to users, bad actors keep finding different ways to scam users.

Meta-owned messaging application WhatsApp has ramped up its artificial intelligence and machine learning systems to tackle the issue of international spam calls, a company spokesperson told Moneycontrol.

“Our new enforcement will reduce the current calling rate by at least 50 percent 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 said.

This action comes on the heels of the junior IT minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar stating that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is in the process of sending a notice to WhatsApp on the issue of international spam calls to users.

“It is a part of the normal scope of activity of MeitY. We ask questions proactively and they will respond... Platforms are responsible to ensure safety and trust. Openness, safety and trust and accountability are the responsibility of the company,” Chandrasekhar said on May 11.

“One issue is how do these numbers get out. Is there a database that has gone out, or is it guesswork with a bot through a random number generator. These are things that the platforms will be asked to look at,” he added.

In its statement, a WhatsApp spokesperson said while they proactively weed out bad actors from its platform and provide several safety tools to users, bad actors keep finding 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,” the spokesperson said.

The world's largest messaging application also highlighted that they offer safety tools such as Block and Report within WhatsApp and are consistently building user safety education and awareness through a range of campaigns. India is the biggest market for WhatsApp with over 500 million users.

“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 said.