Well, it’s official. Qara has launched and is now available in the iOS store worldwide. It’s a huge advantage for anyone looking for an easy-to-use, easy-to-sign-up platform that gives you an American number for your business. It provides a huge advantage for business owners looking to grow their businesses in America.
Unfortunately, it also provides a huge advantage to scammers, hackers, lazy, and irresponsible individuals looking to get ahold of other people’s wallets. So, if you’re wondering why we are not active lately, it’s because dealing with these criminals has kept us busy.
As our society dips further and further into technological dependence, criminals are finding more ways to do what they do, digitally. Is there a better way for them to survive without harming innocent people? That’s a question worth considering.
Shortly after launching the most user-friendly communications app on the market, our AI algorithm was faced with a big, ugly obstacle that we hadn’t anticipated. With our determination to create a painless and fast sign-up process that includes 30 days completely free without any credit card, we discovered that scammers are taking advantage of it. They’re creating fake companies within minutes, quickly obtaining American numbers, and using our messaging platform to send hundreds of messages.
What was originally a selling point – “Easy to use, easy to sign up, 30 days FREE without Credit Card” – quickly became a way for these people to make money in a disreputable way. There are several ways that these people can take advantage of others once they have obtained an American number. We don’t know for sure to what extent they are phishing, hacking, or otherwise taking advantage of others, but we are aware of SMS Traffic Pumping Fraud.
SMS Traffic Pumping Fraud is a type of scam where these online thieves use our numbers to generate a one-time passcode that can artificially inflate traffic and exploit the app. By doing so, these fraudsters can get a share of generated revenue. Essentially, they are stealing money that is not theirs. I guess that’s what thieves do…
We haven’t been exactly thrilled to have these scumbags as customers. We have been working tirelessly to protect ourselves and potential victims. To call this a hassle would be an understatement. This whole challenge has been hell.
Fortunately, our customers with good intentions have not been, and will not be, affected in any way. It’s just these scammers taking advantage of our good nature to manipulate a system that is designed to make life more convenient.
The fact that you only need to enter a cellphone number to sign up and have 30 days FREE trial period without providing a credit card has been a great feature for our growth. We don’t want to limit access to a great product by creating a lengthy sign-up process, but we must do something.
We’ve been looking at alternative solutions to blocking those with poor intentions. Things like flagging IP addresses, preventing VPN access, and developing algorithms that can learn from scammer behaviors and adapt to new tactics over time.
It’s a difficult situation that will require time and work to resolve, but we feel it is worth it to not sacrifice our vision for a handful of scammers. We’re not only fighting against those who want to take advantage of us, we’re fighting for those who want to expand their business footprint in America.
We will continue to provide excellent communications support and access to all of our customers, just not the creeps. Take this as a warning you worthless troublemakers, we’re coming for you. As for everyone else, we thank you for your continued support. 💙
For those who are still unsure about jumping on board, what are you waiting for? There’s never been an easier way to scale up your business with an American number. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.
📞🌎We’re a communications company after all…
