Government Reports Over 90% Decrease in Spoofed International Calls from Indian Numbers in Just Two Months
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New Delhi, Dec 24 (NationPress) The government disclosed that there has been an impressive over 90 percent reduction in the volume of spoofed international calls originating from Indian numbers, plummeting from 1.35 crore to 6 lakh within a span of two months.
The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) initiated the 'International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System' on October 22.
This innovative system is designed to detect calls that seem to come from India but are actually made by cyber-criminals manipulating the calling line identity (CLI) from overseas.
Spoofed calls have been exploited in various cyber-crimes, including threatening disconnection of mobile numbers by fraudsters posing as DoT/TRAI officials, fraudulent digital arrests, and issues related to drugs/narcotics in courier services, as well as impersonation of police officials.
According to the Ministry of Communications, within 24 hours of launching the system, approximately 1.35 crore or 90 percent of all incoming international calls with altered Indian phone numbers were recognized as spoofed and subsequently blocked by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs).
“As per the latest reports from December, the number of spoofed calls identified and blocked with Indian numbers has decreased to about 6 lakh, demonstrating that the system has effectively addressed the cyber-crime issue linked to international calls disguised as Indian numbers,” stated the government.
Nonetheless, fraudsters are adapting their strategies and now utilize international numbers for their scams.
The government noted that fraudsters are increasingly impersonating government authorities by making calls from international numbers that do not begin with +91, but rather start with +8, +85, +65, etc.
The DoT has assembled a specialized task force comprising various stakeholders actively working to combat such spoofed calls.
One of the task force's recommendations is for TSPs to indicate “International Call” to subscribers whenever a call is received from outside the nation.
“This measure will assist users in recognizing that such calls cannot originate from Indian authorities or organizations such as TRAI, Police, or Income Tax,” the government emphasized.
One of the TSPs, Airtel, has already implemented this technical solution and is now displaying “International Call” for all incoming calls from abroad. Other TSPs are currently assessing the technical feasibility of similar implementations.
Citizens are encouraged to report any suspected fraudulent communications using the Chakshu facility on Sanchar Saathi, as advised by the ministry.
