Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp has now become a new way of duping people. The messaging platform has over two billion active monthly users.
However, recently, WhatsApp users in India have come forward to report missed calls that they have received from unknown international numbers.
According to media reports, "These spam calls with international numbers, mostly from African and Southeast Asian countries, along with fake messages from unknown users, have flooded WhatsApp."
The incidents came to light after several Whatsapp users took to Twitter to share their plight and shared screen grabs of their call records and flooded Twitter with complaints and grievances.
Following these concerns, Meta-owned platform has now issued a statement and has advised users to immediately block and report these accounts.
In a statement to NDTV, WhatsApp said, "At WhatsApp, the safety of our users is at the core of everything we do and we have devoted efforts to empower users with resources and tools that equip them to safeguard themselves from scams. WhatsApp is an industry leader in preventing abuse, among end-to-end encrypted messaging services and over the years we have made significant product investments and launched user awareness campaigns that empower users to stay safe. 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."
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Given that users in India have been left at risk of financial loss, they have also been advised to take benefit of the app's privacy control and keep personal details restricted to their contacts in order to help safeguard their accounts.
WhatsApp has also launched a campaign, "Stay safe with WhatsApp", to make users aware of its in-built product features and safety tools.
Here's how you can block any number on WhatsApp:
-Open the chat of the particular contact one wishes to block
-Click on the three dots option, which is available on the top, next to the calling option
-Click on tap more and choose the block option.
All the contacts blocked on WhatsApp will not be able to send users any messages or calls.
