Spam and chain messages

Spam is an unfortunate part of communication technology.

Rakuten Viber is dedicated to fighting spam and providing you with the best tools to protect yourself on the Rakuten Viber app.

Rakuten Viber identifies spam as any undesired message sent to you from another Rakuten Viber user.

Spammers typically do the following:

• Send copies of a single message to a large number of people
• Send messages with malicious intent
• Send messages from their business that you didn’t consent/opt-in for
• Send messages that promote false/misleading information or products
• Send messages that contain offensive material (such as pornography)

For more information, please refer to Rakuten Viber’s Terms of Use.

Business messages are only sent from businesses you have agreed to receive communication from and are therefore not considered spam. If you no longer want to receive business messages, you can unsubscribe from them at any time.

Receiving a message from an unknown number is the first sign that you are being spammed. If you cannot identify who the message’s sender is, you should not click on any message links or interact with the sender.

Spammers may also reach you on your email address and pose as Rakuten Viber representatives. You will NEVER receive the following from Rakuten Viber:

• An email with instructions to forward it to others
• An email with a link that does not contain the following domain: www.viber.com. If you see a different domain, do not click on any links in the email

Legitimate emails from Rakuten Viber include receipts for Rakuten Viber products that you recently purchased, responses to support questions (if you contacted us), and occasional marketing material, from which you can unsubscribe.

Chain messages usually contain harmful links and ask you to forward the message to your contacts. Examples of messages include being told that you’ll win a prize or money if you forward the message, or that your account will be blocked if you don’t. If you receive such a message DO NOT click on the link or forward the message.

Rakuten Viber’s anti-spam system may also automatically block you from forwarding a suspicious message if you accidentally try to do so. Contact support if you tried to send a legitimate message and it was misidentified as spam.

Protect yourself from spammers by allowing Rakuten Viber to scan messages sent from people that you never communicated with on Rakuten Viber. The spam check will scan messages that contain email addresses, links, and phone numbers and detect if they contain malicious content or are from suspected spammers.

IMPORTANT: Our security technology cannot read or store your data. ONLY email addresses, links, and phone numbers are scanned and compared to our database of content identified as spam. For more information, please refer to Rakuten Viber’s security and encryption policies.

To turn on the automatic spam-check:

Phone

1. Open Rakuten Viber on your phone
2. Tap More 
3. Tap Settings 
4. Tap Privacy
5. Tap Auto spam check

Desktop

1. Open Rakuten Viber on your desktop
2. Click on your profile picture next to the Search field
3. Click on Settings 
4. Click on Privacy and security
5. Click on the switch in the Spam protection section

Once the scan is complete, you will be advised whether or not spam was detected.

You can also manually check messages sent from existing contacts by long-tapping/right-clicking on the message and selecting Check for spam. The sender will NOT be notified that you ran a spam check on their message.

If you receive a spam message on Rakuten Viber:

1. Do not click on any links, interact with the sender, or forward the message to your contacts
2. Report the spammer* by contacting support with a screenshot of the message and the phone number it was sent from (make sure the phone number can be seen in the screenshot)
3. Block the sender (you will no longer receive messages from this phone number)

*Help keep Rakuten Viber spam-free: make sure to always report spammers!

Rakuten Viber uses two methods to identify spam:

User behavior: by blocking a phone number, you indicate to Rakuten Viber’s anti-spam system that the phone number is possibly a source of spam. This information may contribute to Rakuten Viber’s decision to block a phone number permanently. Reporting a message is a more direct way to alert Rakuten Viber that the phone number it was sent from belongs to a spammer.

Anti-spam systems: spam detection algorithms are used to detect abnormal usage of the Rakuten Viber app and to block the relevant phone number automatically.

You may be suspected of being a spammer if you used Rakuten Viber to do the following:

• Sent messages containing suspicious links, phone numbers, or email addresses
• Sent messages to people who don’t have you saved in their contact list, resulting in them blocking or reporting you
• Sent the same message to a large number of people
• Sent messages from your business to people who didn’t consent to receive messages on Rakuten Viber from you

If you are suspected of being a spammer, your account will be blocked. This means that you won’t be able to send any messages; however, you will still be able to receive messages.

Most first-time account blocks are temporary and resolved automatically after 24 hours. If Rakuten Viber’s anti-spam system identifies you as a spammer again, you will be permanently blocked.