Truecaller now lets customers shield households from rip-off calls | TechCrunch

Truecaller has launched a household-level scam-protection characteristic because the Swedish firm broadens its position past caller ID in response to the rising variety of fraud makes an attempt that concentrate on a number of members of a house.

The brand new characteristic, known as Household Safety, lets as much as 5 folks be part of a household group overseen by one member who acts because the administrator and manages scam-blocking settings for the others. Household Safety is initially rolling out as a pilot for Android and iOS customers in Sweden, Chile, Malaysia, and Kenya.

Truecaller stated the characteristic is designed in order that the extra digitally assured individual in a family can deal with rip-off controls on behalf of much less tech-savvy relations.

On Android, the household administrator can obtain alerts throughout suspected rip-off calls; view fundamental machine standing, together with battery stage; and remotely finish calls flagged as fraudulent, the corporate stated.

Rip-off exercise has been rising worldwide as extra folks come on-line. That exercise has exploded in markets the place first-time smartphone customers and older adults are extra uncovered to fraud. Nations, together with India, have reported sharp will increase in impersonation makes an attempt and multi-step schemes that exploit gaps in digital familiarity. Truecaller plans to handle this with its new characteristic, which can broaden into extra key areas, together with India, within the first quarter of 2026.

Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala instructed TechCrunch the corporate has seen scammers shift from concentrating on people to total households, with schemes unfolding by way of a sequence of calls, messages, missed-call triggers, and impersonation makes an attempt directed at a number of relations to discover a weak entry level. The development prompted the launch of the multi-user safety system, he stated.

Household Safety is obtainable as a free characteristic to customers. Nonetheless, if the household administrator upgrades to a Premium Household plan, all members get an ad-free expertise together with stronger spam protection and computerized rejection of high-risk calls, the corporate acknowledged.

With a person base of greater than 450 million worldwide, Truecaller detects about 63 million rip-off makes an attempt a day, permitting it to trace shifts in fraud schemes in actual time. The corporate says its group additionally stories round 166 million spam calls day by day, creating one of many largest datasets of phone-based fraud exercise globally.

Nonetheless, Truecaller faces new competitors in India, its largest market, as the federal government there begins trials of a Caller Identify Presentation system that can show the identify registered with telecom suppliers on incoming calls. Truecaller has been including options that transcend caller ID, together with Household Safety, because it adapts to regulatory and market adjustments in India and different key markets.

“With Family Protection, one person’s vigilance now strengthens safety for up to five family members,” stated Jhunjhunwala, including that the corporate goals to increase safety with out requiring extra effort from customers.