Truecaller to Come to WhatsApp Soon

Truecaller, the Scandinavian call-identification and call-blocking app is set to make inroads into WhatsApp, as per the company. The company told Reuters that it was working on integrating its features on WhatsApp to allow users to detect WhatsApp spam calls.

This feature is said to currently be in beta mode so it can be accessed only by those enrolled in the program. However, the feature is likely to be rolled out later this month, as per Chief Executive of Truecaller Alan Mamedi.

Spam calls have been progressively increasing over the past couple of years. Truecaller reported that in India, users get around 17 spam calls on average every month.

Earlier this year, the telecom regulator in India, TRAI, told telecom companies such as Reliance Jio and Airtel to block spam and telemarketing calls using AI filters on their respective networks. Truecaller is also said to be in talks with these telecom operators.

"Over the last two weeks, we have seen a spike in user reports from India about spam calls over WhatsApp," Mamedi said.

With WhatsApp gaining popularity in India, the number of spam calls received on the platform has also increased. While the app allows users to block and report untrustworthy accounts, WhatsApp claims it blocked 4,715,906 scam accounts in March itself.

The challenge for both WhatsApp and Truecaller is pretty big at the moment. Truecaller also has its maximum user base in India, with about 250 million users out of the 350 million users worldwide.

Having said that, Truecaller has been ramping up its app with newer features. Recently the company introduced an AI-powered SMS fraud detection feature that helps users detect if a certain message is fraudulent or genuine.

Additionally, the company also introduced a live caller identification feature to iPhones recently. However, this feature is available only for premium Truecaller users at the moment.