About 500 million WhatsApp users in India have been at the receiving end of scams. While a job scam—citing promising part-time employment opportunities—has been widely reported since the start of 2023, over the past week, social media has been abuzz with users in India complaining of missed calls from countries like Ethiopia (+251), Malaysia (+60), Indonesia (+62), Kenya (+254), Vietnam (+84) and many others.What’s important to note is that these code numbers do not necessarily mean that the calls are originating from these countries. According to multiple reports, agencies are selling these overseas numbers to local scammers.There is no information on who these callers are and why they use WhatsApp for this scam. It is not even clear how these calls can affect users and who is tracking them.When CNCB-TV18 reached out to WhatsApp, it said via a statement, “We apply spam detection technology to spot and take action on accounts engaging in abnormal behaviour to stop spam. We have a grievance officer based in India who can be contacted if a user has a concern about their experience and is unable to report it through other channels. The reports detail user complaints received and the corresponding action taken by
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