In a move to combat the surge in cybercrimes and online financial frauds, the Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, chaired a high-profile meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday. Stakeholders from key financial entities, law enforcement, and digital payment platforms came together to address the pressing issue and outline strategic measures.
Also Read: DoT Deactivates Mobile Numbers in Bihar and Jharkhand Due to SIM Card Fraud: Report
Digital Payment Fraud Statistics
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs presented the latest statistics on digital payment frauds as reported in the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), shedding light on the modus operandi adopted by fraudsters. Notably, the meeting revealed that 70 lakh mobile connections involved in cyber crimes and financial frauds have been disconnected through digital intelligence platforms.
The move has seen Rs 900 crore of defrauded money being saved, benefiting around 3.5 lakh victims. The meeting underscored the importance of real-time Coordination between law enforcement agencies, banks, and financial entities to track and block defrauded funds swiftly.
Also Read: DoT Disconnects 30,000 SIM Cards in Mumbai for Document Fraud: Report
Proactive Risk Monitoring Strategies
Among the key issues discussed were the strategies employed by the State Bank of India (SBI) through its Proactive Risk Monitoring (PRM) strategy and the best practices shared by representatives from PayTM and Razorpay.
Key Discussion Points
The meeting also touched upon the need for a united front, bringing all financial institutions, including NBFCs and major cooperative banks, onto the 'Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS)' platform.
As part of the comprehensive approach, the meeting addressed challenges such as mule accounts by banks, response time improvement for handling alerts on online financial frauds, the appointment of regional/state-level nodal officers, central registry maintenance, KYC standardisation, whitelisting of digital lending apps, and the status of implementing recommendations from the Digital Lending Working Group.
Also Read: Govt Introduces KYC and Point of Sale Reforms for Mobile User Protection
Collaborative Efforts
"All stakeholders including banks and financial institutions to undertake more customer awareness and sensitisation programmes on digital payments security," said the Ministry of Finance in a statement on Tuesday.
