Truecaller pivots to web-based scam detection

The tool, which initially targets the Indian market before expanding to Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, leverages the company’s existing ScamFeed community data. When a user submits a URL, the system expands redirects and cross-references the destination against a proprietary risk database. According to CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala, the move addresses the reality that scam attempts frequently occur within messaging apps like WhatsApp, where users often resort to manual web searches for validation.

This expansion arrives as Truecaller faces increased competition in India, its primary market of 350 million users. With telecom operators implementing government-backed caller identification and mobile giants like Apple and Google integrating native spam protections, Truecaller is diversifying its utility. The company processed 12.9 billion messages globally in one recent week, flagging 20.3 million as fraudulent. Future updates to the platform will include screenshot analysis, further distancing the company from its origins as a simple caller ID provider.