Amid rising cases of scams via WhatsApp calls, its parent company Meta has introduced a new feature called “Automatically Silence Unknown Contacts” to provide better security and privacy on the app. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced it on the official Instagram Channel.
Zuckerberg wrote, “You can now automatically silence incoming calls from unknown contacts on WhatsApp for even more privacy and control.” In recent times, WhatsApp has introduced several features for improved privacy, including Chat Lock, disappearing messages, and screenshot blocking for viewing once and more.
Notably, the update came at a time when a lot of users have raised concerns and filed complaints of scam calls via WhatsApp. People have reportedly lost lakhs of rupees in India owing to such online frauds. In most cases, scammers have posed as customs officers, police officials, and foreign investigating officers to scam unaware WhatsApp users. In some cases, international numbers were used to scam people.
How to switch on the feature
First of all, go to the settings of WhatsApp and click on Privacy
Next, scroll down and look for the option titled Calls- Silence unknown callers.
Switch on the option.
If you switch on the option, the call will be visible in your call list, but the phone will not ring. The feature will help in weeding out scams and spam calls on WhatsApp.