Online scams in India saw a sharp rise in the last couple of months, leaving many people worried. In most cases, scammers approach the victims via WhatsApp and entice them with a simple, work-from-home job offer that can help them earn a couple of extra bucks within the comfort of their homes. A lot of such cases have been reported in the past and we keep hearing them even now from time to time.
WhatsApp, in its Monthly India Report for this month, has shared details about the accounts that it banned in the country, the number of reports they received and the action taken pertaining to those accounts.
WhatsApp banned over 72 lakh accounts
As per the report, WhatsApp banned more than 72 lakh accounts in India between July 1 and July 31. All of these malicious accounts were banned in order to fight the rising cases of online scams in the country. The company said that out of the 7,228,000 banned WhatsApp accounts, 3,108,000 accounts were banned even before users reported them.
“We are an industry leader among end-to-end encrypted messaging services in preventing and combating abuse. In addition to our safety features and controls, we employ a team of engineers, data scientists, analysts, researchers, and experts in law enforcement, online safety, and technology developments to oversee these efforts,” a TOI report quoted the company saying in the report.
The Meta-owned platform also added that they enable users to ‘block contacts and to report problematic content’ and contact them from within the app.
“We pay close attention to user feedback and engage with specialists in stemming misinformation, promoting cybersecurity, and preserving election integrity,” the company said.
When WhatsApp asked Indian users to report malicious accounts
In May this year, WhatsApp had asked users to block and report suspicious calls so that appropriate action could be taken against them.
A WhatsApp spokesperson, in a statement, said, “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.”
Coming to the scam cases, several WhatsApp users have been getting calls from unknown numbers from different countries like Ethiopia (+251), Malaysia (+60), Indonesia (+62), Kenya (+254), Vietnam (+84) and others. Users also reported getting messages that tried luring them with attractive part-time job offers as well as video calls from unknown numbers.
It is to be noted that a call from an international number doesn’t mean that the person who is making the call is present in a different country. WhatsApp calls are transmitted via the internet and anybody can call from an international number via WhatsApp, even though they are sitting in the same city as you.
