A survey reveals shocking statistics about what WhatsApp users are experiencing, with as many as 46% of users facing a barrage of unsolicited voice and video calls, mostly from international numbers. I am reporting that there are The survey was conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles. Not only that, but as many as 83% of his respondents said the onslaught was very recent, and we’ve been getting more such calls since the last 30 days. In addition, 59% of respondents said that such calls mainly come from international numbers. Many people are annoyed by missed calls.
According to LocalCircles, “It is very real that international numbers are used to hide Indian numbers and that these calls originate from India.”
The onslaught was so bad that WhatsApp users in India began reporting it on social media in recent weeks.
scammers working
These calls are made under the pretext of offering an easy task, such as clicking likes on a YouTube video. The country codes for these calls appear to originate from countries such as Ethiopia, Malaysia, Kenya, and Vietnam. However, the country code for these calls does not necessarily mean that the call originated there.
government activity
MEITY Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said the IT ministry will send notifications to WhatsApp about the problem of spam calls from unknown international numbers because the responsibility to ensure the safety of users rests with digital platforms, PTI reported. .
The minister said the government was also investigating how these WhatsApp numbers were identified and accessed.
WhatsApp reaction
WhatsApp said, “…we fully agree with the government’s goal of keeping our users safe…” and that the company is also “taking steps to ensure their safety.” Stated.
with WhatsApp” campaign educates users about safety features built into the platform, such as two-factor authentication, blocking, reporting and privacy controls.
WhatsApp also revealed that it has deployed artificial intelligence (AI) and ML systems to significantly reduce such incidents.
It also reiterated its commitment to the government to leverage information on 4 million mobile phone numbers recently identified as fraudulent by a government initiative called Sanchaar Saathi.
local circle
LocalCircles, aware of this onslaught against the general public, decided to conduct a national survey to assess the scale of the problem. The survey received nearly 23,000 responses from WhatsApp users in 323 districts of India. 63% of respondents were male and 37% were female. 45% of respondents were from Tier 1, 32% from Tier 2 and 23% from Tier 3, Tier 4 and rural areas.
Research highlights
question 1: Has the number of WhatsApp voice and video calls from unknown callers/numbers increased in the last 30 days?
* Over 11,000 people answered this question, confirming that 46% of surveyed WhatsApp users are facing an onslaught of voice or video calls from their users.
unknown number.
* 83% obtained in the last 30 days.
* 21% of respondents saw no change in the last 30 days.
* 17% said their voice or video calls increased by up to 20%.
* 25% said they increased by 20-50%.
* Only 4% of respondents reported an increase of 50-100%.
* 8% of respondents indicated an increase of 100-500%
* 4% of those surveyed reported a 500% or more increase in unsolicited voice and video calls.
*An additional 4% of respondents who had not previously received such calls said they were now being targeted and received several calls.
* Only 17% of respondents said they weren’t lucky enough to get them.
* 59% of respondents admit that the unsolicited voice and video calls they receive on Whatsapp mostly originate from unknown international numbers.
Question 2: What types of unknown numbers have received various voice and video calls over the past 30 days?
* 59% confirm that these calls are primarily originating from international numbers.
* 37% of respondents make voice or video calls, mostly from international numbers and some national numbers.
* 23% received such fraudulent calls, mostly from domestic numbers and some international numbers.
* 22% receive calls only from international numbers and 18% receive calls only from national numbers.
