“We have taken it (scams issue) up with Meta. This is a continuous process. They (scamsters) will keep discovering newer ways, making people worry,” MeitY secretary S Krishnan told ET.
Lately, there has been a rampant misuse of WhatsApp, a popular instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service provider, by scamsters for sharing dubious content, which led to users being conned. The telecom regulator had sought MeitY’s intervention to check financial frauds perpetrated through OTT platforms, since such apps are regulators under the IT Act and don’t fall under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).
Krishnan further said the government is in a regular dialogue with stakeholders particularly Meta and added that users also need to be cautious and raise complaints even in the case of mobile app WhatsApp.
“If there is some wrong content, there is a process. The IT rules require these companies to have a grievance officer with whom users can raise issues. They can raise it either within the app or outside. In case, the issue is not dealt with, there is also a grievance appellate committee,” said Krishnan.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA)-driven Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has blocked nearly 59,000 WhatsApp accounts used for digital frauds, union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar Tuesday informed the Parliament.During its action against unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) earlier this year, Trai had asked MeitY to probe and prevent calls and messages sent out by scamsters using WhatsApp.”WhatsApp calls at present are being looked at by MeitY, so on that we have already written to the ministry, saying that Trai is already working in respect to voice calls and SMS, and requested them to take appropriate action,” Trai chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti had told ET recently.
The fraudsters have been abusing the messaging platforms to lure users by posing as the organisers of a lottery or Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan-hosted Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) show, among others.
The modus operandi includes asking for screen share and taking remote access of a smartphone to steal personal data, and in other cases asking for OTP to swindle money from a bank account.
