Truecaller launches safety campaign amid surge in holiday fraud

Truecaller South Africa has launched a nationwide campaign to help users identify high-risk calls and avoid festive season scams.

"We found that South Africans experienced about 1.6 billion scam calls this year. So, we're finding that scam calls are very prevalent at this time," said Mmathebe Zvobwo, Director of Market Development at Truecaller South Africa.

The app, used by millions globally, flags suspected scam calls, enables users to verify unknown numbers and allows businesses to gain verified caller ID status, reducing the risk of fraud.

According to recent data from the South African Banking and Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS), Accenture and the Interpol Global Crime Trend Report, scam incidents are at a five-year high, with major increases in financial fraud and impersonation scams.

Zvobwo explained that Truecaller is using AI to detect fraudulent calls and messages, including advanced threats such as deepfakes.

"We are deploying our own AI algorithms and machine learning techniques to be able to verify, to validate, to pick up signals across our various points to figure out whether a call is scams, spam or fraud and to also optimise for the correct messaging in terms of whether it is likely in a particular financial industry such as financial services or internet service provider etc.

"We're using AI to really dig deep in terms of understanding the data that we find, summarising user feedback in real time and also enabling businesses as well to be able to figure out when is the right time to call their customers."

Zvobwo stated that the campaign emphasises vigilance and digital literacy as South Africans prepare for a high-risk holiday season.

To listen to Mmathebe Zvobwo in conversation with CapeTalk's Clarence Ford, click the audio below: