WhatsApp users are being urged to activate a new setting that should help them avoid becoming a scam victim. The new SIlence Unknown Callers feature was added in an upgrade on Tuesday.
It does as you would expect - blocking calls from any numbers that are not in a user's contacts. That should mean that cold callers and scammers trying to get through via WhatsApp will be blocked, reports the Mirror.
WhatsApp said on its blog: "Silence Unknown Callers is designed to give you more privacy and control of your incoming calls. It helps to automatically screen out spam, scams, and calls from unknown people for increased protection."
Users will still be able to see everyone who has tried ringing during the day, but numbers that are not recognised will be added to the phone's call log rather than appearing on the screen.
Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Instagram's parent company, Meta, said: “You can now automatically silence incoming calls from unknown contacts on WhatsApp for even more privacy and control.”
If you want to set it up it's easy to enable. Simply head to the 'Settings' menu and then tap 'Privacy'. Once the change arrives you'll then see the option to toggle on Silence Unknown Callers. You may need to update the app itself before the new addition shows up.
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WhatsApp says it is also introducing something called Privacy Checkup. The chat app hopes this will help make sure everyone knows about the options of protection on WhatsApp.
It features step-by-step guides to show you important privacy settings to help you choose the right level of protection, all in one place. To try it simply select ‘Start checkup’ in the app's privacy settings. This will then navigate you through multiple privacy layers that strengthen security of your messages, calls, and personal information.
