Coming soon: Surgical strike against 18 lakh SIMs to curb cyber fraud

In an impending nationwide surgical strike against online fraud and cybercrime, the telecom companies are about to snap connection of about 18 lakh SIM cards after the government launched a comprehensive crackdown on such fraudulent activities that have imperilled the common man in an unprecedented way, The Economic Times has reported.

The number is going to be about 9 times higher than the 2 lakh SIM cards deactivated last year to curb cyber fraud.

A no-holds-barred investigation by different law enforcement agencies to identify SIMS cards being abused for cybercrime has culminated into this dramatic development. “During investigations, it was detected that in many instances, a single handset was used with thousands of mobile connections,” a bureaucrat told the newspaper. On May 9, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) sent a directive to the telecom companies to disconnect as many as 28,220 handsets and verify – reverify in fact – over 20 lakh mobile connections used in these handsets for suspicious activity.

The official further said, “Typically, we have found that in such instances, only 10% of the connections get verified and the rest get disconnected, failing re-verification. The disconnection will be done once the telcos complete the reverification in 15 days.”

The crackdown against cybercrime could usher in much relief for the common citizen who have been increasingly tormented by the rising incidences of mobile phone-based cybercrimes across the country. The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) states that digital financial fraud has successfully looted Rs 10,319 crore in 2023. As many as 694,000 complaints were received in 2023, according to a parliamentary standing committee on finance report. But both the number of complaints and the money lost would have been higher if all victims would have filed complaints.

Officials of law enforcement agencies state that those committing frauds frequently use SIM cards of different telecom circles and regularly change the combination of SIM and handset to avoid detection. “For instance, an Odisha or Assam circle SIM could be used in Delhi NCR. To avoid the radar, fraudsters make only a few outgoing calls and then change the SIM as too many outgoing calls from the same number would get detected by telco systems,” said an officer on conditions of anonymity.

Last year Mewat in Haryana came under the scrutiny of the government leading to disconnection of more than 37,000 SIM cards.

Government officials put the onus on telecom companies and say that that should proactively try to find out patterns of SIMs, especially those bought outside home circles. “As part of their roaming detection system, telcos can instantly capture when a person moves out to a different circle. If telcos take proactive measures at their end, it can be helpful in combating online fraud,” an official told the newspaper.

Telecom companies are also technically equipped to detect where a large number of SIMs are being inserted into a single handset, which is almost sure indicator of fraudsters using it.

Telecom companies are also authorised to deploy fraud management and prevention system in the networks and report suspicious activities. They are also mandated to analyse call records for outgoing calls, especially when a subscriber is making innumerable outgoing calls to various telephone numbers.