According to Devusinh Chauhan, Union Minister of State for Communications, the government has taken proactive steps to stop different methods of cyber fraud, including misuse of headers and message templates of principle entities (PEs). The steps include launching of the Sanchar Saathi portal to keep citizens in the loop about mobile connections issued in their names to even driving mass consumer awareness campaigns through the regulator.
The minister added that cases of impersonation, or people falsely claiming to be the officers of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to dupe citizens had also been reported. It had already mandated telcos to expedite appropriate steps against mobile numbers involved in bombarding consumers with unwanted calls and text messages. In addition, the regulator has already issued a public advisory alerting citizens not to heed fraudulent calls threatening disconnections from companies, agencies and individuals masquerading as TRAI.
Meanwhile, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had conducted an artificial intelligence (AI) /machine learning (ML) based analysis of entities sending text messages through distributed ledger technology (DLT) platforms and about 20,000 PEs, 30,000 SMS headers and 195,000 text message content templates had been removed.
The minister noted that the government is committed to safety and security of telecom users, and that it had launched the Sanchar Saathi portal to help citizens know about mobile connections issued in their name. The portal also helps mobile users report about stolen/lost mobile handsets for blocking/tracing and even to check genuineness of handset while buying new/old devices.
The minister further added that TRAI had also asked telcos to send text messages in English, Hindi, and regional languages to build awareness about fraudulent SMSs in the name of upgrading 5G SIMs.
