'SA one of the most scammed countries in the world' - Truecaller, Head of Comms
Along with South Africa, Brazil, India and other developing countries tend to be on the top 10 list of the most scammed countries in the world.
Lester Kiewit speaks to Truecaller Global Head of Corporate Communications, Hitesh Bhagat.
Scammers are evolving - currently it is possible for scammers to steal your identity just by using your voice as you say, 'hello, hello, hello' when answering a call from an unknown number.
The Truecaller phone app is a tool for mobile users to screen their incoming calls so that they can avoid or block nuisance spam and malicious scam calls.
Established in Stockholm in 2009, the app recently celebrated over 400 million combined Android and iPhone users, globally.
The app began when its co-founders Nami Zarringhalam and Alan Mamedi were students who wanted to create a service that would easily identify incoming calls from unknown numbers.
When downloading the app, you'll need to give it permissions to your contacts so it is able to detect real contacts from potential scammers and spammers.
Truecaller allows users to:
- Block and report scam and potential scam callers.
- Users can also write comments on a scam number which is visible to the Truecaller community.
- Based on the app's community reports, data is analysed through artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to update and understand patterns of scam callers.
According to Truecaller's report from 2021, fraud is a global issue but 'the bitter truth is that South Africa is one of the most scammed countries in the world', says Bhagat.
Along with South Africa, Brazil, India and other developing countries tend to be on the top 10 list of the most scammed countries in the world, adds Bhagat.
Truecaller helps users by giving them all the information needed before answering calls and avoiding possible scams.
"We have to understand that fraud is a global issue because it's cheap and simple to scam lots of people... there are potentially big rewards, little effort on scalability and low risk - that's the reality of the world we live in now."
- Hitesh Bhagat, Global Head of Corporate Communications - Truecaller
"Data is cheap and is consistently being collected and compiled and that is what leads to a lot of these scams and fraud people face everyday."
- Hitesh Bhagat, Global Head of Corporate Communications - Truecaller
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the full conversation.