Almost Everyone Gets It: 96% Whatsapp Users Flooded With Daily Spam Messages, Survey Finds

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Around 96% WhatsApp users who were recently surveyed have reported that they receive“pesky or unsolicited” messages everyday, a new report has found.

According to a recent survey conducted by LocalCircles, only 4% WhatsApp users said they“don't get any promotional or spam WhatsApp messages” on the platform. Meanwhile, 54% of the over 13,000 respondents said they get one to three promotional or spam WhatsApp messages everyday, 30% said they get four to seven of such texts, while the remaining 11% stated that they get eight or more such messages on average every day.

The survey comes a day after the Supreme Court on Tuesday rapped Meta Platforms and WhatsApp, saying that they cannot“play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing”.

Slamming the privacy policy of WhatsApp, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi referred to“silent customers” who are unorganised, digitally dependent and unaware of the implications of data-sharing policies.

Also Read | Supreme Court WARNS Whatsapp Over 'Take It Or Leave It' Privacy Policy Unsolicited messages come from WhatsApp Business accounts

The survey further cited community discussions and said that such unsolicited messages often come from WhatsApp Business accounts in a 'unchecked' manner.

WhatsApp Business is a service where the sender pays WhatsApp for sending messages to users.

What spam messages do users receive?

The WhatsApp spam messages received by users range from different sectors such as automobile service centres, financial services and real estate developers among others.

The survey asked,“Under what all categories are you getting promotional or spam WhatsApp messages?”

Also Read | Supreme Court warns Meta not to share WhatsApp user data for ads

Some among 14,281 respondents chose more than one option. The largest group of 71% stated that they get messages related to“selling real estate” and another 71% stated“selling financial services”. Another 46% pointed to“providing healthcare/ pathology services”; 44% pointed to“offering a job/ earnings”; 24% pointed to“providing services like RO repair, spa, beauty, massage, etc.”; 19% stated“online or fantasy gaming”;

As much as 11% of the respondents indicated that they receive messages regarding“providing mobile number, better mobile talk time/ data plans, etc.”; 21% to“other categories” not mentioned; and 2% of respondents did not give a clear reply.

Also Read | WhatsApp head hits back at Elon Musk over messaging app 'not safe' remark

Thus, financial services, real estate, healthcare/ pathology services and job/ earnings offer are most common among promotional, or spam WhatsApp messages received.

Users who receive WhatsApp spam messages have found a way to stop them from their side, with 59% of the respondents saying that they block the numbers that send them the texts. Others said they simply ignore the texts, while 3% respondents claimed they mute the numbers.

Key Takeaways

• 96% of WhatsApp users report receiving spam messages daily.
• Financial services and real estate promotions are the most common types of spam.
• The Supreme Court has raised concerns about WhatsApp's privacy policies and data sharing.

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