If you get a call from an international number from Ontario in Canada, don’t rush to answer thinking your friend or relative from there may be calling. In all probability, it will be a real estate broker or an insurance agent in your neighbourhood who would have called to sell their products.
Getting an international number sitting at home from websites is easy now and telemarketers are a having a field day as these numbers bypass regulatory channels.
Besides giving free service to dial phone numbers directly anywhere in the world, websites headquartered in countries like US, Canada, UK, Australia, among others, are also offering paid virtual numbers to users sitting anywhere in the world.
According to an FE analysis, websites such as webpushnotifications.com, Globfone, Call2friends, ievaphone, SMSGang, SMSflick, textem, among several others, are offering anonymised free/paid Internet calling and SMS services to users.
According to experts, the concept of virtual numbers or voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) is legal in India, as businesses require services from cloud telephony or other communication companies to communicate with their consumers in a cost effective way. Entities providing such services, need a set of licences from the department of telecommunications (DoT).
However, using illegal channels over the Internet and through social networking sites like Telegram, several entities are offering free numbers or SMSs without having either a valid licence or following proper KYC norms.
“Some scammers have been using OTT calling apps through a number beginning with +92, which is Pakistan’s country code. Cyber criminals use such virtual numbers to lay traps on unsuspecting citizens,” said Tushar Agnihotri, executive vice president, India & APAC, at Route Mobile.
“Any website or app offering free calls to phone numbers should be seen with a degree of suspicion. Are these websites defrauding someone in order to access the network for free? The regulator should investigate, but from a fraud prevention perspective,” Agnihotri said.
The calls or SMSs sent through such platforms even bypass the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technologies deployed by telecom operators to curb unsolicited commercial communication and spam calls.
Recently, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) recommended that the department of telecommunications should mandate the caller name identification feature in the telecom network. This would enable users to see the name of the callers on their phone screens even if they are not saved in the phone book.
Even if this system is implemented, such Internet-based calls from overseas numbers won’t get detected. This is because, telcos will rely on customer application form (CAF) data for feeding the names of consumers into the new system.
Faisal Kawoosa, chief analyst at Techarc told FE that cookie-based tracking is done by some websites based on which they generate anonymous numbers. Users pick up such calls and even get defrauded.
Systems deployed worldwide to tackle such menace suggest that identifying international callers is difficult. “We have seen the shaky implementation in the US, which failed to resolve this issue without a significant block on legitimate traffic coming from overseas users,” Agnihotri said, adding that part of the cause is the lack of global support for a single system and standard.
According to a survey by community social media platform LocalCircles, 60% of mobile subscribers are still getting three or more spam calls on an average every day. Most unwanted calls are related to financial services and real estate involving brands.
Earlier this month, DoT launched Chakshu portal for users to proactively report suspected fraud communication.
