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WhatsApp scams in India have become a serious and the government wants Meta to act on it aggressively.
WhatsApp users face major scams in the country and the govt is worried
WhatsApp scams have got everyone worried and the Indian government is being asked to intervene and act strongly on these issues. The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) have sought Meta’s support to address the scams originating from its owned messaging platform.
The government is being pushed into action after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) wanted the entity to investigate and question the scams targeting innocent people in the country. You have them coming through video and voice calls, which is getting further problematic with the use of AI tech by the scamsters.
The report from ET this month says the government is actively working with Meta to address the issue but asked for people to be cautious while entertaining such calls.
The OTT Apps Challenge
WhatsApp scams are a problem and the governing body is finding it hard to get the platform to act on these issues. The main reason is the lack of authority for these bodies over OTT apps like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram. But the government has full power to put a stop on these scams by making the platform work towards fixing them.
The report claims WhatsApp has already cooperated with the government and blocked the numbers it has found violating its rules.
That’s not all, telecom operators have raised their concerns about the OTT apps through which tracking these scams is a big challenge. Many of these victims receive calls on WhatsApp through international numbers which is another headache for the authorities to tackle.
The most convenient part of WhatsApp has become its biggest issue. You just need a person’s phone number to contact them on the messaging app, which is not a difficult task at all. And the scammers are making merry on its reach and popularity. It is up to the people to be careful about how they use the app and who they chat with to avoid such mishaps.
