₹22,500 Crore Financial Fraud Took Place Last Year Due To Cybercrime: DoT

Mumbai, May 15: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Mumbai, on Friday outlined its comprehensive strategy to enhance telecommunications resilience, security, and digital literacy in celebration of World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.

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DoT officials said that Rs 22,500 crore was lost to financial fraud last year, out of which 76 per cent of the amount was lost in investment frauds.

DoT highlights telecom security measures

According to officials, to bolster national resilience, the DoT has implemented several critical frameworks, including the Telecommunications Act and the Telecommunications (Telecom Cyber Security) Rules.

Notably, the Telecommunications (Right of Way) Rules became effective in Maharashtra on January 1, 2025, streamlining infrastructure development through a centralised portal for tower and cable installation.

“The DoT has launched several high-impact citizen-centric initiatives, including Sanchar Saathi, a digital platform with over 1.7 crore app downloads and 23 crore portal visitors, enabling citizens to block lost handsets and report fraud. As on date, the government has successfully disconnected 3.4 crore suspicious mobile numbers and blocked 2.27 lakh handsets/IMEIs and has recovered over 10 lakh stolen handsets worth more than Rs 1,250 crore,” said Asheesh Pathak, Additional Director General (Telecom), DoT, Mumbai.

DoT addresses mobile tower radiation concerns

“A lot of people have worries with regards to radiation due to mobile towers. I would like to clarify that no radiation takes place due to mobile towers. If anyone has any doubts or queries, they can approach us through the Tarang Sanchar portal and register their complaint, after which our team visits the spot from where the query has been raised and checks radiation levels,” Pathak said.

“If a retailer sells a SIM card and commits fraud while activating the SIM, they end up issuing a mule SIM card in the name of the user by giving false excuses that the photo is not clear or biometric authentication done through Aadhaar is not correct, and issue multiple mule SIMs. These duplicate activated SIMs are then sent to countries like Cambodia and Laos where cybercrime call centres are operating, and the scammers there use these mule SIM cards for cybercrime such as digital arrest and making spam calls.”

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Citizens urged to avoid SIM misuse

“We urge citizens to give their biometric authentication only once. In the past one year, we have identified at least 200 such persons who were involved in such illegal activity and complained to the police against them. Also, we urge citizens to deactivate their old SIMs which they do not intend to use, otherwise the said SIM can be re-issued and can be misused for illegal activities,” Pathak said.

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