Vodafone Idea (Vi) to Reportedly Launch Smart Link Protection to Protect Users from Fraudulent Links

Vodafone Idea (Vi) is developing a new spam solution to protect users against suspicious or fraudulent links, as per a report. The feature, dubbed Smart Link Protection, is said to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse and block malicious links in real time, preventing threat actors from tricking unsuspecting consumers. It is expected to function at the network level and does not require any manual intervention from the user, enabling them to continue using smartphones normally.

Vi's Smart Link Protection Feature

According to a TelecomTalk report, the Smart Link Protection feature is expected to be rolled out in the coming days. It aims to equip Vi users with greater safety and shield them from online scams.

Once rolled out, Smart Link Protection will reportedly identify and filter out malicious links automatically in real time. The report added that Vi's network will function as the first line of defence, preventing them from reaching the user's devices in the first place, instead of flagging them later on.

With this feature, the telecom operator reportedly aims to combat the rising threat of phishing via malicious links. Messages from threat actors are disguised as authentic texts and used to trick unsuspecting customers into giving out information. But with Vi's safety net on, such links will automatically be identified and filtered out.

This upcoming feature builds upon the AI and machine learning (ML)-powered spam SMS identification system introduced in 2024. Like Smart Link Protection, this feature also analyses potentially harmful messages in real-time. It safeguards users by identifying and managing unsolicited and potentially dangerous text messages as they are received on a device. This includes fraudulent URLs, authorised promotions, and identity theft attempts.

Real-time monitoring is done by automated machines powered by AI algorithms that have been pre-trained on millions of instances of spam.

It joined existing measures like an option to file spam complaints on Vi's mobile app, unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) detection, bulk call pattern identification, and more. Notably, Airtel also launched a network-based solution that detects both spam calls and messages last year.