In today’s modern India, where technological advancements intertwine with traditional systems, the specter of fraud looms as a persistent challenge. Frauds, both sophisticated and rudimentary, have become an unfortunate reality affecting various sectors – from financial institutions to unsuspecting individuals.
According to a PTI report, published by Hindustan Times, a new study ‘A Deep Dive into Cybercrime Trends Impacting India’ by the Future Crime Research Foundation (FCRF), a non-profit start-up incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Kanpur, has shown that from January 2020 till June 2023, financial frauds accounted for over 75% of cyber crimes in the country, with nearly 50% cases related to UPI and internet banking. While social media related crimes accounted for 12%.
Now, the government has raised an alert about frauds in the name of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The Ministry of Communications, via a PIB release informed that some companies or agencies or individuals are fraudulently asking public or customers that they are calling from TRAI and mobile numbers of the public/customers will be disconnected as the numbers are being used for sending unsolicited messages.
“The public at large is hereby informed that TRAI does not block/disconnect any mobile number of any individual telecom customers. TRAI never sends any message or make any call for disconnection of mobile numbers. TRAI has not authorized any agency to contact customers for such activities and all such calls are illegal and are to be dealt as per Law. Therefore, any call or message claiming to be from TRAI should be considered potentially fraudulent,” the release stated.
It is also informed by these companies or agencies or individuals that Aadhaar numbers of the public were used for obtaining SIM cards and are being used for illegal activities. These companies or agencies or individuals are also trying to trick the customers to come on Skype video call to avoid disconnection of mobile numbers.
As per Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR) 2018 of TRAI, Access Service Providers are responsible for taking appropriate actions against the mobile numbers involved in sending unsolicited communications.
Affected persons can take up the matter with the concerned Service Providers directly on their respective Customer Service Center numbers or on National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal https://cybercrime.gov.in or call Cyber Crime Helpline Number 1930.