• Several hundred complaints have been filed with police and on social media about the WhatsApp scam using international numbers. Police officers from many states have initiated a crackdown on swindlers. According to the DCP of Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO), there is an increase in instances and the police are attempting to apprehend the scammers. Generally, scammers offer a job in a certain method. In certain circumstances, consumers have received video calls from overseas numbers. You lose control of your camera once you answer the phone. The other person records you and then extorts money. The Union government has also taken stock of the situation and sent a notice to WhatsApp to look into the growing menace of international spam calls, terming it as misuse and breach of users’ privacy.

Let’s look at how victims are being targeted via WhatsApp’s unknown international numbers. Scammers offer you a job via a WhatsApp link that you must click. The victims are initially paid a small amount to establish trust, but they eventually lose both money and data. Receiving a video call from an unknown overseas number on WhatsApp is probably the most risky of all. After you answer the phone, the guy on the other end begins recording the phone screen and employs threatening techniques, alleging that he would transform the video into pornography and make it widespread on social media platforms in order to intimidate and discredit the victim.

Companies are turning to WhatsApp to reach out to people as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) tightens telemarketing laws. Companies employ script software to conduct calls to identify active WhatsApp numbers. Unfortunately, this puts consumers’ privacy rights at risk.

According to the corporation, “protecting users’ privacy and security is fundamental to Meta and WhatsApp.” In terms of user safety, WhatsApp is a market leader among end-to-end encrypted platforms. However, unscrupulous actors employ a variety of methods to defraud users. International scam calls are a relatively new tactic used by criminal actors. By leaving a missed call, they entice interested individuals to call or text back, only to be defrauded.”