Telecom-Led Fraud Risk System Blocks Suspected Cyber Fraud Worth Over ₹5,000 Crore

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced that its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) has prevented suspected cyber fraud transactions exceeding ₹5,000 crore within fifteen months of its launch on 22nd May 2025. The framework is designed to stop money from leaving a citizen's account in the first place, rather than tracing it after a fraud has occurred.

The cumulative amount of suspected fraud prevented has grown nearly eight-fold from ₹660 crore in the first six months of operation. Data shows the figure rose from ₹139.16 crore in August 2025 to ₹5,043.73 crore by August 2026, with over ₹2,000 crore blocked in the four months from April 2026 alone as adoption by financial institutions deepened.

FRI is a risk-assessment framework developed under DoT's Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP). It classifies mobile numbers into Medium, High, or Very High risk categories based on their potential link to financial fraud. The classification draws on citizen reports from the Sanchar Saathi platform, the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), and intelligence from telecom operators and financial entities.

This risk intelligence is shared securely with banks, payment service providers, insurers, securities intermediaries, and pension entities. These institutions integrate the signals into their transaction monitoring and customer onboarding systems, allowing them to flag high-risk transactions in real time before losses occur.

The shift to prevention is significant because a successful fraud often involves funds moving quickly through multiple mule accounts, making recovery difficult. An FRI check, by contrast, happens in a fraction of a second at the moment of payment initiation, eliminating the need for complaints, investigations, or account freezes.

DoT has collaborated with regulators including the RBI, NPCI, and SEBI to embed FRI signals into existing fraud detection workflows. The framework is also being extended to cover securities markets, insurance claims, and pension accounts. To build capacity, DoT has conducted over 25 training sessions for 1,500 banks, financial institutions, and regulators.

Citizen participation remains a cornerstone of the system. Reports of suspicious calls or messages made on the Sanchar Saathi portal contribute to the intelligence that powers FRI. Citizens are advised to heed payment warnings from apps, report suspected fraud communications via Chakshu on Sanchar Saathi, and call 1930 immediately in case of a financial cyber fraud.