Truecaller takes its scam intelligence to the open web as it looks beyond caller ID

Truecaller, the caller ID company with over 500 million users, is now expanding its scam intelligence to the open web. The Swedish firm launched Scam Checker, a new web and Android service that allows users to paste in a suspicious phone number, link, or message to determine if it's fraudulent. This new tool utilizes community reports from Truecaller’s ScamFeed, although detailed information about a phone number, including the associated name, remains accessible only through Truecaller’s existing service, which requires sign-in.

Scam Checker will initially be available in India, with plans to roll out to Latin America, the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Truecaller's CEO, Rishit Jhunjhunwala, explained that the service was inspired by the growing trend of scams moving beyond phone calls to text messages, messaging apps, and web links. In a 2025 GSMA survey, 46% of Indian adults who reported being scammed mentioned messaging apps, 37% through SMS, and 32% via voice calls. Jhunjhunwala noted that people often search for information about suspicious links and phone numbers when they receive a message or an unexpected call.

Truecaller's community is a key component in its scam-detection efforts, with around 20,000 scam reports currently live on ScamFeed, with about 1,300 new reports added each week. In the past week, Truecaller evaluated 12.9 billion messages globally and flagged 20.3 million as fraudulent.

As Truecaller's core business faces competition from telecom operators and rivals like Apple and Google, the company is broadening its focus beyond caller ID. Truecaller's Jhunjhunwala stated that while caller ID remains the initial problem they solve, scams now take a more multi-channel approach, including links and messages. To stay ahead of the scammers, Scam Checker must adapt to these evolving threats.