The Union Government warned the citizens about the prevailing fake call menace leading to siphoning off of their money.
Issuing an advisory on Tuesday, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, asked citizens not to take fake calls wherein callers are threatening to disconnect their mobile numbers, or their mobile numbers are being misused in some illegal activities.
Notably, the DoT had also issued advisory about WhatsApp calls from foreign origin mobile numbers (like +92-xxxxxxxxxx) impersonating government officials and duping the people.
Also Read: Cyberfraudsters new modus operandi: Fake govt official, origin numbers like +92
The Department clarified that the DoT/TRAI does not authorise anyone to make such call on its behalf.
It further said that the cyber criminals through such calls try to threaten or steal personal information to carry out cyber-crime/financial frauds.
What to do if you receive such fake calls?
In such cases when you receive fake calls, it has been advised to stay vigilant and report such fraud communications at ‘Chakshu – Report Suspected Fraud Communications’ facility of Sanchar Saathi portal (www.sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc).
Such proactive reporting helps DoT in prevention of misuse of telecom resources for cyber-crime, financial frauds, etc.
The DoT also advises citizens to report at cyber-crime helpline number 1930 or www.cybercrime.gov.in in case of already a victim of cyber-crime or financial fraud.
How Chakshu portal combat suspected fraud?
As per the government data, based on the complaints registered on the Chakshu portal, 1.86 lakh mobile handsets have been blocked on pan India basis for involvement in cybercrime/financial frauds.
Further, the government said that under Chakshu facility, 52 Principal Entities, involved in sending malicious and phishing SMSs to the citizens have been blacklisted.
Around 700 SMS content templates have been deactivated, and 348 mobile handsets blacklisted on pan-India basis across all telecom operators.
The DoT also highlighted that 10,834 suspected mobile numbers flagged for re-verification to the telecom operators out of which 8272 mobile connections disconnected failing re-verification till 30th April 2024.
