Imagine having sent a risky text to someone, and you’re trying not to look at your phone, tapping your feet in nervousness, awaiting a reply when you suddenly hear a notification ping.
Did they finally reply? Is it just your kakis asking you out for a drink or just someone liking your photo on Instagram?
You’re so excited to see what that little notification brings – until you see it’s just a random unknown number on WhatsApp asking if you’re interested in banking loans for the third time in the same day.
At this rate, they should be considered as pests in their own category.
Facebook To Ban Spam Messengers
Well, if you’ve always been looking for a way to successfully exterminate these people, Facebook’s starting to take some action against that.
Facebook, the owners of everyone’s favourite messaging app WhatsApp, posted a notice on their Facebook app page on 8 Dec regarding unwanted messages, for example financial offers or promotions; basically ones that you didn’t even sign up to receive.
As long as someone has your phone number, no matter through what means they received it from, they’re able to contact you through other platforms just as they do via SMS and calls.
Facebook reminded users that upon receiving these unwanted messages, users are able to report the account, a button that will automatically pop up once an unknown number messages you on WhatsApp, with the option to block the sender as well.
With a report, WhatsApp will then be able to review the account and see if the account’s activity violates the app’s Terms of Service, further banning the account if so.
According to the image accompanying the post, this movement seems to be in conjunction with the Singapore Police Force as well, so to any spam messengers out there, don’t play play – for you might just face serious consequences.
Terms of Service Violation
Every app has its own Terms of Service – basically, they’d like for users to use their service appropriately and not violate and exploit what the creators set out for the app to be.
WhatsApp’s Terms of Service states that under the Legal and Acceptable Use, users must not use the service in ways that “involve sending illegal or impermissible communications such as bulk messaging, auto-messaging, auto-dialing, and the like.”
So spam messengers who send unwanted promotional messages would fall under this category, and perhaps it might be the recent rise of spam messages as such that led to Facebook being more strict about this violation.
Hopefully, with this initiative, you’ll see less of random people asking you if you want cheap loans or if you want to bet on horses anytime soon.
To know more about loan shark “scams”, watch this video to the end (and also subscribe to our YouTube channel for more informative and entertaining videos!):
Featured Image: Rahul Ramachandram / Shutterstock.com
Watch this for a complete summary of what REALLY happened to Qoo10, and why it's like a K-drama:
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