Truecaller has launched a new service that allows users to check suspicious phone numbers, links and messages on the web, all part of efforts to expand the Swedish company’s fraud detection business beyond its traditional caller ID service.
The new Scam Checker is available on the web and Android and does not require users to install the app or sign in. It initially launched in India, with plans to expand to Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Users can paste a suspicious phone number, web link or message into the service to identify potential fraud. Scam Checker analyses submitted links, including shortened URLs, follows redirects to their final destinations and compares them with Truecaller’s proprietary risk database and other fraud signals.
For suspicious messages, the service can identify phone numbers and links contained in the text and surface related reports from Truecaller’s community-driven ScamFeed.
More detailed information about a phone number, including the name associated with it, remains available through Truecaller’s existing service, which requires users to sign in.
The launch reflects the expansion of online scams beyond traditional phone calls to messaging apps, SMS and malicious web links. A 2025 GSMA survey found that among Indian adults who reported being scammed, 46% said they were approached through messaging apps, compared with 37% through SMS and 32% through voice calls.
Truecaller estimates that people conduct about 14 million web searches each month to verify suspicious phone numbers and links, based on its analysis of search volumes and traffic to existing verification services.
The company said its community database has about 20,000 scam reports in India, with roughly 1,300 new reports added each week.
Between September 14 and 20, Truecaller said it evaluated 12.9 billion messages globally and identified 20.3 million as fraudulent.
Chief Executive Officer Rishit Jhunjhunwala said the company was expanding its protection as scammers increasingly moved across different communication channels.
Truecaller also plans to expand the types of scams Scam Checker can identify and introduce screenshot uploads for additional analysis.
The move comes as Truecaller faces growing competition in its core caller identification business, particularly in India, its largest market with more than 350 million users.
Telecom operators are introducing a government-backed Calling Name Presentation service, while Apple and Google have expanded their own caller identification and spam protection features.
India’s telecom regulator has also ordered caller ID applications to share user-submitted spam reports with telecom operators, a move Truecaller has criticised.
The company’s expansion into web-based scam detection gives it a broader role in fraud prevention as scams increasingly involve combinations of phone numbers, messages and links rather than calls alone.
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Emmanuel Abara Benson is a business journalist and editor covering artificial intelligence, global markets, and emerging technology.
He has previously worked with Business Insider Africa and Nairametrics, reporting on finance, startups, and innovation.
His work focuses on AI, digital economy, and global tech trends.
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