WhatsApp is currently working on a new feature that will allow users to silence calls from unknown numbers. This shall come with a future update of the app.
There shall be a toggle which will reside in the app settings and, once enabled, calls from unknown numbers are always silenced.
However, they will still be shown in the call list as well as the notification centre.
WhatsApp’s Significant Reduction in Spam Calls
What also shall happen due to this feature would be the significant reduction in the spam calls.
In recent years, the spam calls have become a growing problem with scammers and even the instant messaging apps are no exception to these scammers and their unsolicited calls.
There was also a poll shared on Twitter asking them if they had ever received a spam call on WhatsApp to get an estimate of the prevalence of this issue.
How Spam Calls can be Dangerous?
Personal information can be stolen from these spam calls and they can be dangerous further as they can be used to trick people to make payments or furnish sensitive data.
The option to block and report these callers is also provided in the WhatsApp. Due to this feature, the users of WhatsApp shall finally avoid receiving calls from unknown numbers by muting them, which are often associated with spam calls.
But where do these spam calls originate from?
They may seem like mere annoyances to be brushed off, but their roots are found in your personal data which is intruded.
This is due to the fact that your number is not just a number due is actually attached to the data set about you that further compartmentalizes you into various categories: age, location, employment, net worth, shopping habits.
This data comes from the information that you willingly give to a bank or POS or any website. But after you giving the consent to them, further consent does not matter as your personal data could be sold to anyone.
And by anyone, we mean, anyone from a telemarketing company, or a criminal module searching for targets.
So, that how your phone flows down to these spam callers or robo-callers.
