DoT, telcos collaborate to shield citizens from international spoof calls

In order to tackle cybercrime originating beyond the borders of India and increasingly targeting this country’s citizens to defraud them of their hard-earned money, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and mobile operators have devised a system that can identify and block a spoof international call showing an Indian number.

When the system is put in place it would shield millions of cellphone users who are being targeted by cybercriminals posing as police officials, FedEx staff or even as DoT and Trai officials. It has already been reported that an amount of Rs 1,750 crore – or more than Rs 60.76 lakh per hour – were plundered from Indians between the four months January and March this year.

Spoof international calls originate outside India’s borders. Cyber criminals use a technology to manipulate the calling line identity that give them the appearance to be originating within India.

DoT has already directed all telecom carriers to block such calls.

A statement from the DoT read, “These calls appear to be originating within India but being made by cyber-criminals from abroad by manipulating the CLI. Such international spoofed calls have been misused in recent cases of fake digital arrests, FedEx scams, drugs/narcotics in courier (shipments), impersonation as government and police officials, disconnections of mobile numbers by DoT/Trai officials, etc.”

Rising to the occasion, after being flooded with such complaints, DoT and telecom service providers (TSPs) have worked out a system to identify and block such incoming spoofed calls. The system will from reaching any Indian telecom subscriber.

“Now directions have been issued to the TSPs for blocking of such incoming international spoofed calls,” DoT said.

However, the system might not be able to weed out 100% of such fraudsters. “Despite best efforts, there may still be some fraudsters who succeed through other means,” the DoT admitted. The department has strongly advised that consumers should report suspected fraud communications at the Chakshu facility on the Sanchar Saathi portal.

The DoT is also using artificial intelligence (AI) analysis through various modules like Sanchar Saathi, Chakshu amongst others to clamp down on fraudulent connections.

Earlier in March this year, the government rolled out the ‘Chakshu’ facility on Sanchar Saathi portal. This service offers the common man a platform to register suspicious communication that they receive through phone calls, SMS, or WhatsApp. These calls may request KYC updates or bank account details, payment wallets, SIM cards, and gas connections of citizens to gain access to their bank accounts.