Leaked screenshots appear to suggest that developers on the popular social media platform WhatsApp are working on a way to prevent scam calls.
Users of the app have always had the ability to block or report unwanted callers after they have been contacted by undesirables or fraudsters. But the IT boffins at parent company Meta appear to be working on ways to stop them getting to you even before then.
Screenshots leaked from the company show WhatsApp developers are looking at adding a tool that effectively silences unknown callers, although they may still appear in call lists and notifications. However, with the new tool, they will not be able to ring through.
WABetaInfo, an independent website that keeps secret its operators but announces news about WhatsApp, including updates and new features and which uncovered the screenshots, claims that the feature has a number of pros, including reducing interruptions and preventing spam calls.
According to an article in the Daily Mail, it is not known when the new tool will be introduced. The search for a solution to the increasing number of scam calls follows incidents on WhatsApp where the attempted fraud often starts with a message like, "Hi Mum" or "Hi Dad", followed by a bid to trick the receiver of the message into believing their son or daughter is in a spot of trouble and needs some money quickly.
For thousands of people around the world, the calls can soon escalate into a complicated plot to part people with even more money. Previous research has found that of eight in 10 people targeted last summer, fewer than two in 10 went on to report that they had been scammed.
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The techies at WABetaInfo also discovered several other tools the social media giants are developing via WhatsApp Beta — a site that lets people try them out before going into mainstream use. One is a new WhatsApp mode that allows people to edit their messages after they have been sent.
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