6 Million Fraudulent Mobile Connections Discovered: DoT

Reported by Tanuja K August 10th, 2023 at 11:27 am

The CEIR (Central Equipment Identity Register) was launched to help users find their lost or stolen phones with the help of police. Launched back on May 16, the department has been able to block 725,000 mobiles, and 295,000 have already been traced.

Highlights

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has screened 11.4 million mobile connections.
The interesting thing was that out of these 11.4 million connections, 6 million were fraudulent.
The department has already disconnected 5 million of these connections, and work is going on to disconnect the remaining ones as well.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has screened 11.4 million mobile connections. The interesting thing was that out of these 11.4 million connections, 6 million were fraudulent. As per an ET report, the department has already disconnected 5 million of these connections, and work is going on to disconnect the remaining ones as well. The government has taken several departments and, using synergy between their resources, is working towards reducing cybercrime in the country.

Various government bodies, including the Reserve Bank of India, banks, DoT, and the Ministry of Home Affairs, are working together to catch the cybercriminals and stop them from affecting the common citizens of the nation.

So far, the government has blocked about 700,000 accounts linked with fraudulent numbers. These numbers were linked with financial institutions such as PhonePe, and Paytm, and now these stand frozen. The accounts in concern were taking proceeds from various cybercrimes. K Rajaraman, telecom secretary, has also said that the government's initiative to trace lost or stolen phones is now getting a good response as police in various states have become more active.

The CEIR (Central Equipment Identity Register) was launched to help users find their lost or stolen phones with the help of police. Launched back on May 16, the department has been able to block 725,000 mobiles, and 295,000 have already been traced. For the longest time now, the government has been trying to reduce cybercrimes.

It is very easy to take SIM cards in India today, and thus, cybercrimes can also be executed. But now, as tech improves, the government is expected to start getting more vigilant in using its resources to curb cybercrimes in the country. Now fraudsters have also started using AI (artificial intelligence) to indulge in cybercrimes. Much recently, a man lost Rs 40000 to an AI call thinking he is transferring money to a friend.