WhatsApp To Deregister Fraudulent Users Amid International Spam Call Menace

Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Tuesday that WhatsApp had consented to deregister mobile numbers identified as fraudulent. Mobile services had already disconnected these numbers.

What Happened? At a press briefing, Vaishnaw responded to a query about government actions against international scammers on WhatsApp. He mentioned that the government had actively engaged with the Meta-owned messaging giant, WhatsApp, which had agreed on the importance of customer safety.

“They are absolutely on board to deregister the users who have been detected as fraud users,” Vaishnaw said.

Additionally, the minister highlighted that the government was concurrently in talks with other messaging platforms, such as Telegram.

See also: WhatsApp Fights Back: AI To Combat Rising International Spam Call Menace

In a Tuesday statement, WhatsApp confirmed its collaboration with the government to address the issue. “We have been actively engaging with the government to consistently ensure a safe and secure user experience, including weeding out bad actors from the platform,” a portion of the statement said.

Vaishnaw made these statements at the launch of a three-part customer-facing sectoral reform, including a feature allowing customers to know how many connections link to their identity.

The reform also enables customers to block their mobile phones if lost or stolen via a web portal, Sanchar Saathi, backed by the Central Equipment Identity Register.

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