“Don’t pick up calls made from unknown numbers”, Telecom minister requests all Indians
The Telecom Minister emphasizes that people should only respond to calls from numbers they recognize.
Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has requested all Indians to never receive any calls from unknown numbers. He has also asked the citizens to take up calls only from the numbers they can recognise.
Only when a certain identification message is sent from callers, you can consider responding to those unknown numbers, the minister said.
The Telecom ministry has taken steps to reduce the number of spam calls and cases of cyber frauds in the country. Recently, over 40 lakh wrong SIMs and 41,000 wrong “points of sale” agents have been blacklisted.
Over the past few days, WhatsApp users in the country have reported a massive increase in incoming international spam calls. The company has blocked 36 lakh mobile connections to check small calls fraud.
WhatsApp has recently ramped up it’s artificial intelligence and machine learning systems to reduce the current calling rate by 50 per cent. “We will continue to work relentlessly towards ensuring a safe experience for our users,” company spokesperson said in a statement.
With the increase in sense of awareness by the Telecom Ministry and actions being implemented by instant messaging apps, individuals can feel safe about their digital privacy.
