Truecaller has launched a household-level fraud protection feature as the Swedish company expands its role beyond caller ID in response to the growing number of fraud attempts targeting multiple members of a household.
The new feature, called Family Protection, lets up to five people join a family group, overseen by one member who acts as an administrator and manages fraud blocking settings for the others. Family Protection will initially be launched as a pilot project for Android and iOS users in Sweden, Chile, Malaysia and Kenya.
Truecaller said the feature is designed so the more digitally confident person in a household can handle fraud checks on behalf of less tech-savvy family members.
On Android, the family manager can receive alerts during suspected scam calls, view basic device status, including battery level, and remotely end calls flagged as fraudulent, the company said.
Fraud activity has increased worldwide as more people come online. That activity has exploded in markets where first-time smartphone users and older adults are more vulnerable to fraud. Countries including India have reported sharp increases in impersonation attempts and multi-stage schemes exploiting digital privacy gaps. Truecaller plans to address this with its new feature, which will expand to additional key regions, including India, in the first quarter of 2026.
Truecaller CEO Rishit Jhunjhunwala told TechCrunch that the company has seen scammers shift from targeting individuals to entire households, with schemes unfolding through a sequence of calls, messages, missed call triggers and impersonation attempts targeting multiple family members to find a vulnerable entry point. The trend prompted the launch of the multi-user protection system, he said.
Family Protection is available as a free feature for users. But if the family manager upgrades to a Premium Family plan, all members get an ad-free experience along with stronger spam defenses and automatic rejection of high-risk calls, the company said.
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With a user base of more than 450 million worldwide, Truecaller records around 63 million fraud attempts per day, making it possible to track shifts in fraud schemes in real time. The company says its community also reports about 166 million spam calls daily, creating one of the largest data sets of phone-based fraud activity globally.
However, Truecaller faces new competition in India, its biggest market, as the government there begins trials of a caller name presentation system that will display the name registered with telecom providers on incoming calls. Truecaller has added features beyond caller ID, including Family Protection, as it adapts to regulatory and market changes in India and other key markets.
“With Family Protection, one person’s vigilance now strengthens the security of up to five family members,” Jhunjhunwala said, adding that the company aims to extend protection without requiring any additional effort from users.