The Indian government is ramping up its efforts to combat cyber fraud and related scams, a growing concern in an increasingly digital world. Matters concerning cybercrime fall under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which has established the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) to assist law enforcement agencies in addressing such crimes. Additionally, the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) allows the public to report cybercrimes of all kinds via its website. In 2024, the portal received over 1.91 million complaints, reporting a collective financial loss of approximately $2.7 billion.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), tasked with preventing the misuse of telecom resources for cyber fraud, has taken several proactive measures. One of these initiatives includes deploying a system to detect and block international calls spoofing Indian mobile numbers. Such spoofed calls, made by cybercriminals abroad, falsely appear to originate within India. The system, operational since October 2024, displayed early success by blocking 13.5 million spoofed calls within 24 hours of its launch. As of March 3, 2025, the system had identified and blocked only 400,000 such calls, marking a remarkable reduction of approximately 97% in spoofed calls using Indian caller IDs.
To safeguard telecom users, the DoT emphasizes public awareness through a range of efforts, including social media campaigns, press releases, SMS alerts, and collaborations with stakeholders like law enforcement agencies, banks, and telecom service providers (TSPs). Public outreach efforts also highlight the “Sanchar Saathi” platform, a citizen-centric resource for reporting suspected fraudulent communications and accessing information about telecom safety.
The DoT has further advanced its fight against cyber fraud through the development of a Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP). This online, secure platform facilitates the sharing of information related to the misuse of telecom resources among 560 onboarded organizations, including state police forces, central security agencies, telecom providers, and the I4C.
These measures underline the government’s ongoing commitment to curbing cyber fraud and protecting citizens in the digital age. This information was shared in a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, Chandra Sekhar.
