1.77 crore mobile connections deactivated, 45 lakh spoof calls blocked

The government has disconnected 1.77 crore mobile connections taken on fake/forged documents. Simultaneously,pan India blocked 2.29 lakh mobile phones involved in cyber-crime or fraudulent activities. About 12.02 lakh out of 21.03 lakh reported stolen/lost mobile phones have been traced. The DoT using AI based tools to identify the mobile connections taken on fake / forged documents or taken exceeding the prescribed limits for an individual. Such mobile connections along with telecom resources and mobile handsets used in fraudulent activities are being weeded out from the telecom ecosystem.
According to official information, the DoT has launched an online secure Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) for sharing of information related to misuse of telecom resources among the stakeholders for prevention of cyber-crime and financial frauds. At present DoT field units, all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), MHA, 460 banks and financial institutions, 33 States/UTs police, central agencies and other stakeholders have on-boarded this platform, which hosts the list of disconnected mobile connections on near real time basis along with the reasons for disconnections.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in collaboration with Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), has introduced an advanced system designed to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls before they can reach Indian telecom subscribers. This system is being deployed in two phases: first, at the TSP level, to prevent calls spoofed with phone numbers of their own subscribers; and second, at a central level, to stop calls spoofed with the numbers of subscribers from other TSPs.
As of now, all four TSPs have successfully implemented the system. About one third of total spoofed calls at 4.5 million spoofed calls are being stopped from entering the Indian telecom network. The next phase, involving a centralized system that will eliminate the remaining spoofed calls across all TSPs, is expected to be commissioned shortly.The DoT encourages citizens to proactively report suspected fraud communications to help DoT in identification and prevention of misuse of telecom resources for cyber-crime, financial frauds. It will also help in safeguarding citizens from impersonation, exploitation, and enabling proactive action against potential threats.Citizen can report such calls at Chakshu facility available on the Sanchar Saathi platform.