The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) launched ‘International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System’ on October 22, 2024. This system identifies calls that appear to be originating from within India but are made by the cyber-criminals from abroad by manipulating the calling line identity (CLI). These spoofed calls have been used in cyber-crimes like threatening disconnection of mobile numbers by fraudsters impersonating as DoT/ Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) officials, fake digital arrests, drugs/narcotics in courier, impersonation as police officials, arrest in sex racket.
Within 24 hours of operation of the system, about 13.5 million or 90 per cent from all the incoming international calls with tempered Indian phone numbers were identified as spoofed calls and blocked by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) from reaching Indian telecom subscribers. In the latest reports of December 2024, the spoofed calls identified and blocked with Indian numbers have dipped to about 0.6 million indicating that the system has successfully tackled the issue of cyber-crimes that were being conducted through calls that were being made from abroad, but the CLI was tempered to look as Indian number.
However, fraudsters have now shifted their tactics and are using international numbers for their deceptive practices. It is noted that fraudsters are increasingly impersonating government authorities by calling from international numbers that do not start with +91 but start with numbers such as +8, +85, +65 etc. DoT has formed a dedicated task force comprising of various stakeholders that is actively working to address such spoofed calls. One of the recommendations of the task force was that TSPs should display “International Call” to the subscribers whenever any call from outside the country is received. This will help the users to understand that such calls cannot be from Indian Authorities or organizations like TRAI, Police, Income Tax etc.
One of the TSPs, Bharti Airtel has implemented the technical solution and has already started displaying “International Call” for all calls received from outside the country. Other TSPs are exploring the technical feasibility for implementing the same.
The DoT has advised citizens that they should show caution with respect to answering calls from unfamiliar international numbers which are not starting with +91 and which claims to be from government authorities of India. Citizens are advised to report such suspected fraud communications at Chakshu facility on Sanchar Saathi.
The DoT has been taking proactive measures towards strengthening its capacity to curb misuse of telecom resources in cyber frauds and cyber-crimes. The department’s continued focus has been on tackling emerging cyber threats, securing telecom services, and providing citizens with safe and reliable communication networks.
