Quick Heal looks at small businesses and individuals with its AI-powered anti-fraud tool

In exclusive interaction with Mintthe Pune-based company’s top executives – Sanjay Katkar, joint managing director, and Sneha Katkar, chief strategy officer – said that the software launched ₹750 per installation, saw higher-than-expected usage levels in the days leading up to the launch last month and in the first few days of the launch last week, highlighting the need for such products in a market where people are being defrauded with digital arrest, malware. Web links are becoming increasingly sophisticated and contextualized, and bad actors have access to targets’ personal data.

“Fraudsters not only use social engineering, but also use technology, automate the selection of attacks, which requires technological assistance to solve or combat these types of frauds,” Sanjay said, pointing to several high-profile fraud cases, including one in which a CEO was defrauded and managing director of textile company Vardhman Group SP Oswal ₹ ₹7 crore when fraudsters impersonated Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and organized fake Supreme Court hearings via Skype.

This phenomenon is known as digital arrest and is a high-context scam in which certain personal information about the victim is shared with fraudsters. Consumers are also falling victim to phishing and other forms of fraud through fake shopping, banking and lending apps.

Once installed on a laptop, personal computer or mobile phone, the software assesses the user’s risk profile. Using AI alerts when receiving a potentially fraudulent call, the tool protects against link phishing scams, warns when a call has the potential to lead to a scam, detects fake apps, QR (Quick Response) codes, and warns when an app uses a microphone or camera when the device is not in use.

Sanjay said the software complies with the provisions of the Personal Data Protection Act, which lays down rules to ensure user privacy and protection against digital harm. He added that Quick Heal has filed patents for this technology in India and the US.

Consumers continue to encounter spam

Preventing potential scams resulting from unwanted calls and messages has become one of the key priorities of the Ministry of Communications and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Even though Trai and the telecom department have resolved the spam issue, consumers continue to face spam calls and messages on a daily basis. Following government mandates, telecom operators blocked a large number of calls. Last month, Airtel launched a tool built into its network that will alert customers in real-time about all suspicious spam calls and SMSes. The service will be automatically activated for all Airtel customers without the need for the user to download any app. The service is a potential competitor to the Swedish smartphone app Truecaller, which identifies and blocks spam.

Spam scams have now started coming from OTT apps like WhatsApp.