Truecaller brings AI-based SMS fraud protection: What is it and how it works

The company says that the fraud protection feature will especially be helpful for people who may not know how to spot fraud and mistakenly believe they are dealing with legitimate businesses. 

Truecaller estimates that over 100 million people using Truecaller have received at least one fraudulent SMS over the past three months. These frauds range from electricity bill payments, banks, job offers, KYC related, loans, charity, lottery and many other types.

The new fraud protection feature can intelligently recognize fraudulent senders and messages. Truecallers system also adapts to automatically discover new forms of fraud, even without user reports.

How Truecaller fraud protection works

Truecaller fraud protection feature is currently available to all Android users in India for free. With the new feature, Truecaller app will  show a clearly marked red notification in case a user receives a fraudulent message. The notification will warn the user not to take action. 

The notification will remain on screen till it is manually dismissed. In case the user misses the warning and opens the fraudulent SMS, Truecaller automatically disables all links. The SMS thread, the company says, will only be accessible if the user explicitly marks that sender as safe, adding another layer of protection against fraud.

Truecaller clarifies that the app does not upload any messages. All processing happens locally on the device, thanks to Truecaller’s advanced AI filters.

As per the company, what sets fraud protection apart is that it uses advanced artificial intelligence technology to predict fraud SMSes. Truecaller Fraud Protection is currently being launched in India but Truecaller is also exploring other markets as well, the company said.