Government Cracks Down on Digital Fraud: Over 6.69 Lakh SIMs and 1.32 Lakh IMEIs Blocked

New Delhi, Nov 28 (NationPress) With the increase in digital arrest scams across the nation, the government has taken decisive action, blocking over 669,000 SIM cards and 132,000 International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, as reported by law enforcement officials.

In an effort to bolster the approach to handle cyber crimes, including digital arrests, the Central government has implemented various measures, according to Minister of State for Home Affairs, Bandi Sanjay Kumar, in a written response during a session in the Rajya Sabha.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has established the ‘Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’ (I4C) to effectively address all forms of cybercrimes in a coordinated and thorough manner.

Launched in 2021, the ‘Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System’ under I4C aims for the immediate reporting of financial frauds, preventing the diversion of funds by fraudsters.

To date, more than Rs 3,431 crore has been safeguarded from over 994,000 complaints, as the minister stated.

Additionally, the government, alongside telecom service providers (TSPs), has developed a strategy to identify and block incoming international spoofed calls that masquerade as Indian mobile numbers.

“These international spoofed calls have been utilized by cyber-criminals in recent incidents involving fake digital arrests, FedEx scams, and impersonations of government and police officials,” Kumar noted.

Instructions have also been issued to TSPs to block such incoming international spoofed calls.

A Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC) has been established at I4C, where representatives from major banks, financial intermediaries, payment aggregators, TSPs, IT intermediaries, and law enforcement agencies from states/UTs collaborate for prompt action and seamless cooperation in combating cybercrime.

Furthermore, I4C has launched a suspect registry of identifiers for cyber criminals in partnership with banks and financial institutions.

A new feature called ‘Report and Check Suspect’ has also been introduced, allowing citizens to search I4C’s repository of cybercriminal identifiers through ‘Suspect Search.’