Fraudsters are increasingly making international scam calls disguised as Indian mobile numbers, creating a significant challenge for security and trust in telecommunications. Indian citizens are the primary targets of these deceptive practices, facing an elevated risk of cybercrime and financial fraud. By exploiting the familiarity and trust associated with local phone numbers, these criminals aim to deceive unsuspecting individuals more effectively.
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The technique used involves manipulating the Caller Line Identification (CLI) to make the calls appear to originate from a legitimate Indian number. This spoofing tactic makes it difficult for recipients to distinguish between genuine and scam calls, increasing the likelihood of successful scams and financial exploitation.
Indian Citizens Targeted for Cybercrime and Financial Fraud
Scammers are adopting advanced methods to fool you into falling for financial scams and cybercrimes by making phone calls that seem to be from Indian cell phones. These scam calls appear to be from India but come from elsewhere. Scammers increase your chances of answering and believing the caller by changing the Caller Line Identification (CLI) to make the calls appear real. Once you interact, they might try to obtain financial or private information or persuade you to carry out fraudulent transactions. It’s important to stay alert and wary of unexpected calls, particularly those requesting instant financial assistance or personal information. To guard against these nefarious scams, always confirm the caller’s identification via proper means before complying with any requests.
Sanchar Saathi Platform to Protect People from Scam Calls
In response, a system has been developed by the Department of Telecommunications and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to detect and prevent such incoming foreign spoof calls from reaching any telecom subscriber in India. According to the statement, the TSPs are already banning such calls with Indian landline numbers. The agency has also instructed the TSPs to block incoming international spoof calls.
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Furthermore, the department has introduced the citizen-focused Sanchar Saathi platform to protect people from fraud and risks involving overseas calls. It stated that users can report messages they believe to be fraudulent using the portal’s “Chakshu” service.
Everything you should know about the Chakshu facility
- By enabling users to report calls and texts from scammers, the digital platform strengthens defences against anonymous thieves who use technology to defraud people of their money. It makes reporting fraudulent calls and messages easier and enables multiple stakeholders to share intelligence in real-time.
- Information about instances of telecom resource misuse will also be available on the portal.
- The government will also set up a grievance redressal platform where people can report connections that were unintentionally disconnected and a process for getting money that was frozen as a result.
- On the Sanchar Saathi platform, Chakshu will serve as a backend repository for citizen-initiated petitions so that different stakeholders can take appropriate action.
- Since its introduction in May of last year, Sanchar Saathi has assisted over 700,000 people in tracking lost phones, blocking them, reporting identity theft incidents, and identifying over 6.7 million questionable communication attempts.
