Anastasia Mironova We should be banned from calling instant messengers 27.12.2024, 08:09

Voice calls may be prohibited in instant messengers. This measure is currently being discussed at Roskomnadzor and the Ministry of Digital Development.

Measure of what? Obviously, protection from scammers. It is difficult to selectively block voice traffic, not allowing calls only from abroad or only from Ukraine. And it makes no sense: scammers will register accounts for Burkina Faso virtual numbers. Also, to be honest, we are tired of the phrase “FSB is calling you.” Also, why is it so difficult to record calls from Russia, which is the only country that can make voice calls via WhatsApp? We have phones, communication is almost free.

I have a very positive attitude towards this measure. The extent of fraud is mind-boggling. The thought of putting people’s money in a bag, taking it to who knows where and handing it over to who knows who is terrifying. Since this year, telephone operators have been more or less successful in dealing with calls; I personally have almost stopped taking them now. These days, the only people who call me occasionally are marketers and sales department employees of new buildings. By the way, it is unknown why they are calling. A few times a year I get calls that start like this: “You recently looked at new buildings. Still looking for an apartment? I didn’t look and I don’t choose. From a marketing perspective, these are empty cold calls. They just bother me, distract me.

Personally, I have not received any calls from WhatsApp. Definitely. No one from the FSB or the “third financial directorate” wrote to me. I also don’t know if scammers are calling or texting relatives. Once, they wrote to my wife and “notified” her via WhatsApp, as if a lawsuit had been filed against her and we needed to take action immediately. This is it. Maybe we have some kind of amulet, or maybe the rule worked: “They call those who do not immediately hang up”… Remember, at the dawn of phone fraud, they explained to us that it was he who answered the phone and walked in. If a conversation is automatically recognized as potentially suggestible by scammers, does its number enter the database to be searched and searched further? I’ve only had a brief conversation with a scammer once in my life. Because it turned out that the caller was quite remarkable. It was a woman imitating a male voice! A natural-born geek woman who introduced herself as “they’re calling from Sberbank in Moscow” said she was a man from “the security service.”

That’s it, I didn’t listen to any calls anymore and advised my relatives to do the same. My family hung up the phone maybe ten times, removing themselves from fake number databases.

But other citizens are already under attack from scammers 24 hours a day. The callers are scammers: They introduce themselves as inspectors, inspectors, intelligence officers, counterintelligence agents… In WhatsApp, the avatar has the pennant of the special services and the caller’s name has the rank of colonel. And people engage in conversation, listen, obey commands. I just read that a university teacher from Kursk gave 4 million rubles to such scammers. Since it was difficult for an assistant professor at Kursk to earn that much money, the man took a loan! And then, upon the order from WhatsApp, he went to burn the police car! How did he study at the university, poor guy? So how did they give him credit?

Everything is obvious when it comes to those who spend money on scammers. Special condition. But the state is also obliged to protect such people.

The sale of denatured alcohol in stalls near the house is prohibited. Although it is convenient to buy Omyvayka at the kiosk, you do not need to go to the gas station. And a home glass with alcohol is better than non-alcoholic. But we accept the fact that in order to protect the fools who drank this cup, they did not sell it to us, the smarter ones.

The same goes for searches. Ban it because people with poor critical thinking skills suffer. Additionally, the scale has become epidemic; There are so many victims of scammers that the problem of their further maintenance falls on the shoulders of the state and society. They are left penniless, often without housing, and the especially brainwashed have criminal records: arson, assault, destruction of property. When they attack a military recruitment office or a police car, they are usually slapped with a note about terrorism. This means that they will be included in the Rosfinmonitoring list and their accounts will most likely be blocked. I must say that for a person who tends to transfer his money to someone he does not know, this is not such a bad option. Placement under some form of guardianship.

In general, we already have thousands, and possibly tens of thousands, of our citizens who are left with nothing after negotiations with scammers. St. them. You cannot send it to Helena Island; They need to be nurtured and supported. So the problem is common.

Need to wait before calling? I accept. Moreover, for now we are talking about banning voice calls. Here, people in remote areas will be harmed first. I too have a house where the only connection is the Internet with a booster antenna and a single operator, where nothing else can catch anything. When I go there I can only be reached via messenger.

Those calling abroad will also suffer. Even though they left the video for now? Maybe you need to ban voice searches on mobile apps and leave them on desktop apps. I also have all instant messengers on my laptop. When a person receives a phone call, he becomes confused and cannot control his direction and something at the same time. It is difficult to get confused when searching a computer: people specifically open instant messengers to call a specific person. And then they get shut down.

He will not suffer abroad. Why is there a need to be in touch with friends and relatives abroad 24 hours a day? And in Russia calls are now free for almost everyone.

If such a measure is taken, it will be temporary and will not last long. First, AI technologies will soon become publicly available; Fraudsters will be able to easily establish horizontal connections between people on social networks, automatically collect their photos, voice samples in the same social networks and instant messengers and create avatars. It sounds alarming, but it is already possible; there just aren’t publicly available and inexpensive technologies that would allow scammers to make mass video calls to victims under the guise of their relatives.

It will start soon. The sentences “Mom, I hit the man” will not be said by random people; Mothers and fathers will see their children on the screen and hear their voices.

Fraud will also be targeted precisely. For example, esoteric lovers may receive a phone call from their deceased aunt. And order the money to be buried under the tombstone. Artificial intelligence will find the aunt’s funeral location using the databases of the funeral services office.

Very soon scammers will start video calling us. So what will happen? The same recipe – banning video calls in the mobile application. In fact, we will all win. Because annoying people video chatting without headphones will disappear from the subway, buses, and stores. This is unbearable.

There are other benefits to limiting calls via instant messengers. Just as we have patients who are addicted to moving towards the apocalypse and scrolling through silly videotapes, we also have patients who are addicted to talking. Immigrants are particularly guilty of this. Regarding immigrants, this is already a national problem: Even if they work or study, they do not give us a place because they spend all their free time chatting with their relatives, this is such a culture that they are extremely dependent on their families. and the immediate surroundings. After all, a person who chats for hours with his family and friends does not learn Russian, does not read, does not watch our television, but constantly makes phone calls. There are plenty of these in our states too: People waste their lives chattering. Previously, at least they did macrame: after all, fine motor skills, paralysis prevention.

Another problem is video calls from drivers. They couldn’t even handle the phone call, couldn’t get the call banned while driving but here’s a video. The bus driver is talking via video link on the road. And there’s no way to control this.

There are a lot of stupid people. Many are suggestible and naive. There are many unorganized people. The state has an obligation to protect everyone. This way you won’t send your money to scammers and your cars won’t get burned. This way, in the end, you won’t waste your life on empty conversations.

Until recently, classical telephone communication was predicted to be dying. But perhaps Internet communication will be limited and telephone communication will be virtually free. Because it is safer: It is more difficult for fraudsters to reach us by phone. And it’s hard to chat about it for hours. And the money is solid, there is plenty of time, and minibuses will eventually become quieter. From where? I’m sorry, let them ban it.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.