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Developer(s) | Gogolook Co., Ltd. |
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Initial release | August, 2010 |
Operating system | Android, Windows Phone, iOS |
Available in | English, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, Malay, Thai, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Hindi |
Type | Caller ID, Telephone Directory, Spam Filtering, Fraud Protection |
License | Proprietary |
Website | whoscall |
Whoscall is a mobile application that offers caller identification services. It was developed by Gogolook Co., Ltd., a listed company in Taiwan. The function of Whoscall is to identify incoming calls, detect scam/harassment numbers, and filter spam text messages, blocking them accordingly. Its name is derived from a shorter version of the phrase “Who is calling?“.[ citation needed ] The app currently has over 100 million users, 2.6 billion phone number entries, 25 billion identified number & SMS, and is available in 31 countries/regions, including Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Brazil. The application owns the largest number database in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Whoscall is also the strategic partner of several governmental agencies in their anti-fraud efforts, including the National Police Agency (Taiwan), the Financial Supervisory Service (South Korea), Fukuoka City Government., Police Cyber Taskforce (Thailand) the Malaysia police and state government.
Instant Caller Identification, which identifies unknown callers in real time through the largest number database (with 2.6 billion entries) and an AI-powered identification engine.
Caller ID Blocking, which reduces the risks of receiving malicious/harassment phone calls by blocking nuisance calls or text messages automatically.
SMS Message Filtering, which filters dangerous phishing text messages by detecting suspicious URLs and keywords.
Unknown Caller Query, which allows users to key in unknown phone numbers manually and identify such callers in the database.
Number Reporting, which maximizes the power of social network by allowing users to report dangerous/scam phone numbers.
Whoscall Number, which increases phone answer rates, resolves the problem of counterfeit corporate identities, and protects consumers from fraudulent threats, through the implementation of a number verification mechanism.
URL scanner, which allows users to view the risk level of unknown links by simply entering them within the app, thereby filtering out fraudulent links
Whoscall has been covered in prominent international media including BBC, TechCrunch, TechinAsia, and e27. It has many positive reviews and holds an average of 4.2 star ratings on Google Play Store.
On May 20, 2014, Gogolook was mentioned by name during the President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou's national address marking his 6th year in office. Gogolook was referred to as an example of the creativity and potential of the youth of Taiwan. [25]
In April 2014, concerns regarding Whoscall's privacy issues rose to the forefront of national attention as public figures took to the press and expressed their concerns with public records including home telephone numbers and addresses showing up on incoming calling screens. Gogolook swiftly came out with a statement declaring that they had never collected nor stored any personal information on their servers, let alone made them publicly available. [26] It was soon discovered that the personal information of the aforementioned public figures was leaked from government servers with poor security protocols that made the information available on search engines, from where Gogolook sources some of their information. Whoscall was promptly lauded as not only a call screen for telemarketers, but also a reliable reminder for the possible dissemination of personal information. [27]
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