By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, JAN 25, 2025: FRAUDSTERS were earlier using international spoofed calls that displayed Indian mobile numbers (+91-xxxxx) to deceive Indian citizens and carrying out cyber-crimes and financial frauds. Though these calls appear to originate from within India, they are actually made from abroad through manipulation of the Calling Line Identity (CLI), commonly referred to as phone number.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has actively intervened, launching an indigenously developed International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System, along with all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). The tool proved to be a formidable barrier that blocked 90% of all the incoming international calls which were identified as spoofed calls - approximately 1.35 crore, in just 24 hours. The spoofed calls identified and blocked with Indian numbers have now dipped to about 4 lakhs per day indicating that the system's success in tackling the issue of cyber-crimes using spoofed calls from abroad.

With the successful implementation of the aforementioned system, scammers abroad changed their modus operandi and now they have started spoofing using international numbers. To counter this, DoT has asked Telecom Service Providers to display "International Calls" on all calls coming from outside India. This helps the citizen to understand that since the incoming calls is an "International Call", it cannot be from organizations like DoT, TRAI, police, RBI, customs, UIDAI etc. One of the major service providers has already implemented this in its network and others are in process of doing so.

In order to further tackle the menace of international spoofed calls from reaching Indian citizens, DoT has asked Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to block traffic from such international carriers, which are repeatedly sending spoofed CLI call traffic to India. Abiding by DoT's instructions various Indian International Telecom Service Providers like Airtel, BSNL, RJIL etc have blocked more than 20 such carriers/aggregators who were handing over spoofed international calls.

In the fight against cyber-crime, citizens have also joined hands with DoT. They are not only exercising caution while receiving calls from unfamiliar international numbers, particularly those claiming to be government authorities, but are also reporting them to DoT though Sanchar Saathi mobile App and portal ( www.sancharsaathi.gov.in). This is helping DoT to take action against such carriers/aggregators.

The recently launched Sanchar Saathi App has placed the convenience of reporting fraudulent calls at the fingertips of the citizens. It immensely enhances the ease of reporting any suspected fraud communications by allowing citizens to report such incidents directly from their mobile phone call logs.

DoT is steadfastly committed to preventing the misuse of telecom resources by implementing advanced solutions and working closely with various stakeholders. The aim is to ensure a secure and safe telecom ecosystem for all citizens.

Proactive reporting by citizens on Sanchar Saathi can significantly contribute to curb fraudulent activities from international numbers. Suspected fraud calls reporting can be done through the Sanchar Saathi portal or the newly launched Sanchar Saathi mobile app, which is available for download on both the Google Play Store and Apple App Store . Alternatively, the QR codes below can be scanned for easy access.