The Swedish company Truecaller is expanding the scope of its operations in the field of combating electronic fraud, by launching a new tool called “Scam Checker,” which allows users to check phone numbers, links, and suspicious messages without the need to log in.
The new service is available via web browsers and the Android operating system, where the user can enter any number, link, or text sent so that the tool can scan it and verify its association with fraudulent activities, based on the database and reports of the platform community known as “ScamFeed.” While this service is provided for free in India in the first phase, the company intends to launch it later in additional markets including the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Noting that the detailed identity data of number holders will remain exclusive to the main application that requires login.
The tool has an advanced ability to examine links – including shortened ones – and track redirection paths to reach their final destination and compare them with the company’s risk database, in addition to its ability to analyze suspicious messages and extract numbers and links contained within their content.
This step comes in light of the growth in electronic fraud crimes, exceeding traditional calls and affecting messaging applications, text messages, and links. According to Truecaller, about 14 million web searches are conducted each month to verify the integrity of numbers and links. In India alone, the “ScamFeed” platform receives about 20,000 fraudulent reports, with about 1,300 new reports received weekly. Globally, the company revealed the analysis of 12.9 billion messages between September 14 and 20, which resulted in the detection and identification of 20.3 million fraudulent messages.
The company plans to develop the tool in the future to include additional forms of fraud, with the introduction of a screenshot analysis feature. This expansion comes amid intense competition in the caller ID technology market, with major companies such as Apple and Google, in addition to telecommunications companies, launching their own protection tools.
In this context, the company’s CEO, Rishit Jhunjhunwala, confirmed that fraudulent operations are now using multiple channels, which imposes the need to expand the scope of protection tools beyond the traditional limits of phone calls.
