{"id":609652,"date":"2025-09-04T09:55:23","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T07:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=609652"},"modified":"2025-09-04T10:02:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T08:02:46","slug":"truecaller-announces-big-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/security\/609652-truecaller-announces-big-change.html","title":{"rendered":"Truecaller announces big change"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Truecaller has rolled out artificial intelligence (AI) functionality that it says provides deeper contextual insights on incoming calls received by users, going beyond showing the caller\u2019s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It flags potential fraud, identifies likely spam, and suggests relevant business categories. Truecaller says the information is delivered instantly and powered by advanced AI classification models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The caller ID service, which is popular in South Africa, said millions of daily reports continuously enrich this additional information about incoming calls and include AI summaries of user comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Truecaller said this would help people understand who is calling and the intent behind every call. It added that it has a global community of over 450 million active users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople hesitate to answer unknown calls because they lack context, and in today\u2019s world, context is everything,\u201d said Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTruecaller was built to solve this: not just to identify who\u2019s calling, but to help you understand why. Is it someone from your network, a delivery, a business or a scam?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Truecaller explained that its Caller ID service is powered by an AI-driven engine that interprets billions of signals from calls, messages, and user feedback across the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike traditional systems that depend on static databases or delayed telecom updates, Truecaller said it delivers real-time intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It said the information it provides can evolve with user behaviour, communication patterns, and emerging global spam and fraud threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis continuous learning loop ensures that users are always equipped with the most relevant, up-to-date context, transforming the way we understand and respond to incoming calls,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Truecaller said this allows it to do more than identify a number:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It can indicate whether the caller is a known fraudster or part of a scam network<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It can tell you if the number is \u201clikely a business\u201d or \u201clikely important\u201d, even if there is not enough community feedback<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It can classify the type of business \u2014 for example, Delivery, Customer Support, or Insurance<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It can alert you about suspicious behaviour, even before that number has been widely reported by the community<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It can provide a single-line AI summary of hundreds of user comments, while the phone is still ringing\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhile the company also offers a Verified Business badge for official brand identities, the majority of contextual insights shown to users are generated dynamically by AI,\u201d Truecaller said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThis requires no manual labelling or business registration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Truecaller under investigation in South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/pansy-tlakula-edited.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-564529\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/pansy-tlakula-edited.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/pansy-tlakula-edited-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/pansy-tlakula-edited-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Pansy Tlakula, Information Regulator chair<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa\u2019s Information Regulator says it is investigating complaints it has received against call screening platform Truecaller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This comes after several companies and individuals lobbied the regulator to<a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/telecoms\/600299-a-group-of-companies-want-to-chase-truecaller-out-of-south-africa.html\"> crack down on Truecaller<\/a> in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Agrieved business owners have said that Truecaller has harmed their companies by flagging their numbers on the platform and charging them a fee to be whitelisted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One business identified itself as a \u201csmall ISP\u201d, while another appeared to be an Internet telephony provider. Others who complained did so anonymously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>None of the complainants provided details about their telemarketing strategy or their relationship to direct marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope that they get banned in South Africa,\u201d the small ISP stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey create a platform where they allow anyone to say anything about your business, good or bad, even swear words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Truecaller then offers a setting in the app that blocks all calls flagged as spam by default. However, businesses say they can pay for their calls to be allowed through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFor a ridiculous fee \u2014 $590\/month for 5000 calls \u2014 they will whitelist your number so your business can get through to clients again,\u201d the ISP stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It said the fee amounts to R2.18 per call extra that South African businesses must pay for customers\u2019 phones to allow their call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNeither we as a small ISP, nor our customers, can afford this. Why should the South African businesses be blackmailed and extorted like this by a foreign company?\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Truecaller denies strongarming claims<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rishit-Jhunjhunwala-Truecaller-CEO.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-609660\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rishit-Jhunjhunwala-Truecaller-CEO.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rishit-Jhunjhunwala-Truecaller-CEO-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rishit-Jhunjhunwala-Truecaller-CEO-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Rishit Jhunjhunwala, Truecaller CEO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Truecaller has denied the allegations that it extorts businesses into paying to allow their calls through to customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A spokesperson told MyBroadband that although the company offers enterprise subscriptions, user reports can still cause these businesses to appear as spammers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is a paid service, but when the businesses come on board and become partners, customers of Truecaller, we tell them that the spam marketing is not our call,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf you make calls that the customers or the phone users don\u2019t want to receive, they\u2019re going to mark you as spam. We don\u2019t have control over that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, paying for Truecaller\u2019s verified business calls product won\u2019t remove spam labels or \u201cwhitelist\u201d businesses that have been marked as spam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe primary problem that the verified business product is solving is impersonation. It\u2019s addressing the issue of trust,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They explained that the product works similarly to verification on social media platforms like X and LinkedIn, where users can pay to verify their profiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They added that Truecaller first vets these customers by requesting various documents and confirmation of the numbers these businesses use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The spokesperson said Truecaller\u2019s other paid enterprise product, Priority Call Status, is only for important and time-sensitive calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, a credit card provider may register priority numbers on Truecaller for incidents relating to credit card fraud, where they need to reach a customer quickly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They explained that Truecaller colour codes calls based on whether numbers are marked as spam, are verified businesses, or have priority call status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regular calls without spam labels will appear with a blue background, while those with significant spam reports will appear with a red background.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Truecaller has rolled out AI functionality that it says provides deeper contextual insights on incoming calls received by users, going beyond showing the caller\u2019s name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":609655,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[92837,27],"tags":[101298,43552],"class_list":["post-609652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai","category-security","tag-rishit-jhunjhunwala-2","tag-truecaller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609652"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609652"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":609662,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609652\/revisions\/609662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}