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'DoT's fraud indicator prevents ₹1,400 crore in potential losses'
Thanks to the Department of Telecommunications' innovative Financial Fraud Risk Indicator, a staggering 1,400 crore rupees in potential losses have been thwarted. This proactive system identifies suspicious mobile numbers in real-time, providing users with essential protection against fraud. The Department of Telecommunications' (DoT) Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) has prevented potential financial losses of more than ₹1,400 crore since its launch in May 2025, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The risk-scoring system flags mobile phone numbers as medium, high or very high fraud probability, enabling banks, non-banking financial companies and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) providers to deploy real-time safeguards including alerts, transaction delays, warnings and declined transactions. Scindia said that the FRI operates as a risk-based metric within the DoT's Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), which connects more than 1,200 stakeholders, including police from 36 states and union territories, central agencies, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, payment operators and telecom service providers. Stakeholders share suspected fraud numbers through the platform, which DoT analyses for rapid action. The minister added that the relevance of other fraud prevention techniques through the DIP system as well. The ASTR AI tool has identified suspicious connections, leading major telecom providers to disconnect more than 8.8 million numbers after reverification. The International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System, operational since October 17, 2024, has slashed international spoofed calls mimicking Indian numbers by nearly 99%, blocking 13.5 million calls in a single day.
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88 Lakh SIMs Disconnected in Massive Anti-Scam Drive
1,200+ organisations onboarded on Digital Intelligence Platform Over 88 lakh suspicious mobile connections have been disconnected, and potential financial frauds worth more than Rs 1,400 crore prevented, Union Minister for Communications Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia informed Parliament on Wednesday. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, the Minister detailed how the government's Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) is being used to curb telecom-related fraud through AI-led monitoring and coordinated action among enforcement agencies, banks, and telecom operators. The Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) has been developed as a secure online system enabling real-time, bidirectional information sharing among key stakeholders to prevent misuse of telecom resources in cybercrime and financial fraud. Also Read: 4G in Every Village of India by June 2026: Jyotiraditya Scindia More than 1,200 organisations have been onboarded onto the platform. These include central security agencies, police departments across 36 states and Union Territories, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), banks, UPI service providers, payment system operators, and telecom service providers. Through DIP, stakeholders can flag mobile numbers suspected to be involved in fraudulent activity. The data is analysed by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and shared with relevant agencies for action. One of the key systems under DIP is ASTR, an artificial intelligence and big data analytics tool designed to identify suspicious mobile connections. According to the Minister, more than 88 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected after failing reverification checks. These numbers were identified as potentially being misused in cybercrime or financial fraud. In addition, based on 7.93 lakh reports of suspected fraudulent communication submitted by citizens through the Sanchar Saathi platform, 39.53 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected. The government has also deployed the International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System (CIOR) to tackle spoofed international calls displaying Indian mobile numbers. Also Read: Airtel Says AI Now Handles Spam, Fraud, Customer Care and Even Tower Power Since its commissioning on October 17, 2024, the system has delivered significant results, including blocking 1.35 crore spoofed calls within a 24-hour period. The Minister said the intervention has led to a nearly 99% reduction in spoofed calls using Indian calling line identification. Calls that continue to reach international gateways are blocked at those points, strengthening the telecom network's defensive layer. Another major initiative is the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), launched in May 2025. FRI assigns a risk category to suspicious mobile numbers, classifying them as medium, high, or very high risk of financial fraud. This enables banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and UPI service providers to prioritise enforcement actions and adopt real-time protection measures. Such measures include transaction alerts, temporary delays, enhanced due diligence, warning notifications, or even transaction decline in high-risk cases. According to financial institutions, the use of FRI has helped prevent potential frauds amounting to over Rs 1,400 crore. The Department of Telecommunications shares analysed data with stakeholders in the form of a mobile number revocation list, which includes details of disconnected numbers, reasons for disconnection, and dates of action taken. Stakeholders, in turn, submit action taken reports and share additional suspicious numbers, creating a continuous intelligence-sharing loop. The Minister said these coordinated and technology-driven measures have significantly strengthened the country's citizen protection framework against telecom-enabled fraud, as India moves toward a more AI-driven and risk-based digital security system.
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The Department of Telecommunications' Financial Fraud Risk Indicator has prevented potential financial losses exceeding ₹1,400 crore since May 2025. The system flags suspicious mobile numbers in real-time, enabling banks and UPI providers to deploy safeguards. Over 88 lakh suspicious connections have been disconnected through AI-led monitoring.
The Department of Telecommunications has prevented potential financial losses exceeding ₹1,400 crore through its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) system since its launch in May 2025, Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed the Rajya Sabha. This marks a significant milestone in India's battle against financial fraud, with the system now serving as a critical defense mechanism for millions of citizens conducting digital transactions
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.The FRI operates as a risk-scoring system that categorizes suspicious mobile numbers into medium, high, or very high fraud probability categories. This risk category classification enables banks, non-banking financial companies, and UPI service providers to implement real-time protection measures including transaction alerts, temporary delays, enhanced due diligence, warning notifications, and transaction declines in high-risk cases
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.The Digital Intelligence Platform serves as the backbone of India's citizen protection framework against telecom-enabled fraud. Developed as a secure online system, the platform enables real-time, bidirectional information sharing among more than 1,200 organizations. These stakeholders include central security agencies, enforcement agencies, police departments across 36 states and union territories, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, banks, UPI service providers, payment system operators, and telecom operators
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.Through this collaborative network, stakeholders can flag suspicious mobile numbers suspected of fraudulent activity. The Department of Telecommunications analyzes this data and shares it with relevant agencies for rapid action, creating a continuous intelligence-sharing loop that strengthens the overall security ecosystem
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.The ASTR AI tool, an artificial intelligence and big data analytics system operating within the Digital Intelligence Platform, has identified suspicious connections leading to the disconnection of more than 8.8 million mobile numbers after reverification. These SIMs disconnected were flagged as potentially being misused in cybercrime or financial fraud activities. The ASTR AI tool uses AI-led monitoring to analyze patterns and detect anomalies that indicate fraudulent behavior
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Source: ET
Additionally, based on 7.93 lakh reports of suspected fraudulent communication submitted by citizens through the Sanchar Saathi platform, another 39.53 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected. This demonstrates the critical role of citizen participation in combating financial fraud and cybercrime
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The International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System, operational since October 17, 2024, has achieved a nearly 99% reduction in international spoofed calls mimicking Indian numbers. The system blocked 13.5 million spoofed calls within a single 24-hour period, demonstrating its effectiveness in protecting citizens from international fraud attempts. Calls that continue to reach international gateways are blocked at those points, creating multiple defensive layers within the telecom network
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.The Department of Telecommunications shares analyzed data with stakeholders through a mobile number revocation list, which includes details of disconnected numbers, reasons for disconnection, and dates of action taken. Stakeholders submit action taken reports and share additional suspicious mobile numbers, maintaining the continuous flow of intelligence that powers this anti-scam drive. As India moves toward a more AI-driven and risk-based digital security system, these coordinated and technology-driven measures signal a future where real-time fraud prevention becomes increasingly sophisticated and effective.
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