Rakuten Viber has started testing a feature to protect users from spam and scammers. Thanks to the new feature called “Caller ID”, Viber users will see a special message from Viber when they call from unknown numbers. The message will contain a call security indicator: calls will be marked as potentially spammy or safe. After assessing the likelihood of spam, the user will be able to answer or reject the call.
Testing the function
The spam probability indicator is determined by an internal system based on numerous factors, including previous reports of spam calls from other Viber users. Rakuten Viber encourages you to report spam calls by clicking the appropriate “Complaint” button – this helps to improve the system and protect others from spam.
The feature is currently being tested and will be gradually made available to Viber users on Android devices with Viber 21.1 and higher over the next few weeks. The feature will be free for all users.
Spam protection with the Caller ID feature is the next step in Rakuten Viber’s development of security features. We remind you of other security and privacy features that are already available in Viber.
End-to-end encryption
All Viber chats and personal calls are protected by end-to-end encryption from the first to the last message by default. Decryption keys for chats and calls are stored only on users’ devices: messages cannot be intercepted and read, they are decrypted only on the devices of the interlocutors. No one else, including Viber employees, has access to these keys, so calls and messages can only be read or listened to by the parties to the dialog.
Two-step authorization
Protecting your account with an email and PIN will be a barrier to fraudsters if they get their hands on your phone. In addition, with two-step verification, only you can create a Viber account with your phone number.
Protect important chats with a PIN code
If there is a risk of your phone falling into the wrong hands, you should protect important chats with a PIN. This way, when a third party unlocks the device and gains access to the Viber account, these chats will not be detected and read.
Disappearing messages
With this feature, chat messages will be deleted within a specified period of time. In addition, the recipient of such a message will not be able to take a screenshot on Android. On iOS, when you try to take a screenshot or send a message that has been deleted, the sender will receive a notification.
