Spam and scam calls from India are among the worst in the world. Even in 2021, it ranks in the top 5 for spam calls. This is revealed from the results of the TrueCaller report.
According to Truecaller's 'Global Spam Report 2021', India increased from 9th to 4th position. The data shows that more than 202 million spam calls occur in India, which is simplified more than 27 thousand spam calls occur every hour.
In terms of scams, it is quite well known that many scammers are from India. They even have their own 'call center'. To make matters worse, the prevalence of fraudulent calls in India is increasing, from 23% in 2018 to 31% in 2021.
Citing the Borgen Project, the 2021 Microsoft Survey found that India is perceived 'as a call center (scam) hub used for criminal purposes'. Those call centers mostly scam many countries like the United States and Canada. Some even from their own country. A survey conducted in 16 countries with 16,254 respondents of adult internet users found that 7 out of 10 Indians have experienced fraud.
For countries like the United States, the target they are looking for is parents who are less gadget literate. The fraudsters claim to be important people or even from the government so their threats scare the parents. As a result, a lot of money -- or even all of their pensions, has been cut down.
However, compared to the rest of the world, the most scammers target the population in India itself. The same 2021 Microsoft survey noted that '47% [Indian consumers] think it is very or somewhat likely that the company will contact them via unsolicited calls, pop-ups, text messages, advertisements or emails'. This number increased 15% from 2018.
Millennials in India (aged 24-37 years) are the most at risk of becoming a victim of fraud in 2021, resulting in 58% of targets losing money through fraud. About 73% of men tend to lose money when interacting with scammers, while women have a percentage of 27%.
The Minister of Manpower in India, Santosh Gangwar, said that India has taken several steps and is dedicated to reducing the youth unemployment rate in India. That way, teenagers in India are no longer tempted to fall into the circle of scammers. Increased patrols to prevent structured scam actions were also intensified by the authorities.