Spam calls on the rise, and is not pretty!
Truecaller have released a study shown that in an average, a typical Malaysian received about 7 spam calls per month, which compare to Singapore at 4 calls per month and 2 in Vietnam.
The major culprit of these spam calls is from financial services such as cold calls for credit card offer or insurance policies. These rounding up about 67% of total spam calls. The second most spam calls made industry is from telemarketing, which consist of promotional calls, surveys, or business cold call.
How can we combat Spam Call?
In Malaysia, the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) enables consumers to officially write to any company that is using their contact details for marketing, to ask for the company to stop marketing to them. Companies that do not comply with the written notice from the consumer are liable to be fined up to RM200,000 or jailed for up to two years, or both.
Truecaller, a company dedicated to deal with spam calls, have released the Truecaller app on both Android and iOS. The app makes it simple for everyone to look at their Caller ID and know who’s calling, even if the number is not stored in their phonebook. It also enables users to block calls as well as SMS and report spam callers and messages, allowing the larger community of users to avoid the spammers too. Currently, more than 250 million people around the world have downloaded the app.
Who is Truecaller?
Truecaller is a company provides a suite of unique services such as a dialer that offers caller ID, spam detection, messaging and more. Their mission is to build trust everywhere by making communication safe and efficient. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the company was founded in 2009 by Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam. Investors include Sequoia Capital, Atomico and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers.
To find out more about Truecaller, please visit www.truecaller.com.