Truecaller is expected to start soon offering caller identification services on WhatsApp and other messaging apps to help users spot potential spam calls on the internet, the company told Reuters on Monday. This comes at a time when more and more calls are bothering users. Many of these calls are made by scammers using WhatsApp to commit financial scams.

Truecaller CEO Alan Mamedi said the feature is currently in beta and will roll out globally later in May.

According to a 2021 Truecaller report, telemarketing and scam calls are on the rise in countries like India, where the average user receives around 17 spam calls per month.

India’s telecom regulator in February directed operators such as Jio and Airtel to start using artificial intelligence filters to block telemarketing calls made through their networks. Truecaller said it is in discussions with telecom operators to implement such a solution.

“Over the past two weeks, we’ve seen users from India reporting a spike in spam calls on WhatsApp,” Mamedi said, noting that the shift of telemarketers to internet calling is pretty new.

WhatsApp is the most used messaging platform in India. The company said it uses spam detection technology to spot and take action on accounts with unusual behaviour and lets users block and report problematic accounts.

WhatsApp has become a cost-effective way for these spammers to use the internet to make international calls that would otherwise be much more expensive using a cellular network. Also, since WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption for calls and messages, it is difficult to identify these people.

For Truecaller, India is its largest market, with 250 million users. It has 350 million users worldwide and generates revenue from advertising, subscription services and verified business listings.