Lok Sabha Question No. 2523 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-06
Subject: Cyber Frauds
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Smt. Geniben Nagaji Thakor

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2523

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 06 TH  AUGUST, 2024/ SHRAVAN 15, 1946 (SAKA)

CYBER FRAUDS

†2523 SMT. GENIBEN NAGAJI THAKOR:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) the measures being taken by the Government to prevent/check cyber frauds;

(b)  whether  the  SIM  cards  being  used  to  commit  cyber  fraud  are unidentifiable; and

(c) if so, the action being taken against the mobile network companies in this regard?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI BANDI SANJAY KUMAR)

(a) to (c) : 'Police' and 'Public Order' are State subjects as per the Seventh Schedule  of  the  Constitution  of  India.  The  States/UTs  are  primarily responsible for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes  including  cyber  fraud  through  their  Law  Enforcement  Agencies (LEAs).  The  Central  Government  supplements  the  initiatives  of  the States/UTs  through  advisories  and  financial  assistance  under  various schemes for capacity building of their LEAs.

To  strengthen  the  mechanism  to    deal    with    cyber    crimes  in    a comprehensive  and  coordinated  manner,  the  Central  Government  has taken  steps  for  spreading  awareness  about  cyber  crimes,  issuance  of alerts/ advisories, capacity  building/training  of      law    enforcement personnel/ prosecutors/judicial officers, improving cyber forensic facilities, etc.  The  Government  has  set  up  the  'Indian  Cyber  Crime  Coordination Centre' (I4C) as an attached office to deal with all types of cyber crime in the country, in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.

The 'National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal' (https://cybercrime.gov.in)  has  been  launched,  as  a  part  of  the  I4C,  to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with  special  focus  on  cyber  crimes  against  women  and  children.  Cyber crime  incidents  reported  on  this  portal,  their  conversion  into  FIRs  and subsequent action thereon are handled by the State/UT Law Enforcement Agencies concerned as per the provisions of the law.

The  'Citizen  Financial  Cyber  Fraud  Reporting  and  Management System', under I4C, has been launched in year 2021 for immediate reporting of financial frauds and to stop siphoning off funds by the fraudsters. So far, financial amount of more than Rs. 2400 Crore has been saved in more than 7.6 lakh complaints. A toll-free Helpline number  ' 1930' has  been operationalized to provide assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.

The Central Government has launched Sanchar Saathi portal (www.sancharsaathi.gov.in)  to  empower  mobile  subscribers,  strengthen their security and increase awareness about citizen centric initiatives of the  Government.  The  portal  inter-alia,  provides,  facilities  to  citizens  to report  suspected  fraud  communications,  know  the  mobile  connections issued in their name and report the mobile connections for disconnection which are either not required or not taken by them, report the stolen / lost mobile handset for blocking and tracing, report the incoming international calls received with Indian telephone number as calling line identification.

The Central Government has launched an online Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) for sharing of telecom misuse related information and list of disconnected numbers with reasons with the concerned stakeholders for prevention  of  cyber-crime  and  financial  frauds.  The  Central  Government has developed a system to detect fraudulent mobile connections obtained on fake/ forged documents and direct Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for reverification.  The  outcome  of  the  initiatives  taken  by  the  Central Government are as under:

|   1. | Number of mobile connections disconnected taken on fake/forged documents                                                         | 73 lakh                                    |
|------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
|    2 | Point of Sales (PoSs) blacklisted                                                                                                | 70,895                                     |
|    3 | FIRs registered against PoSs blacklisted                                                                                         | 365                                        |
|    4 | Mobile handsets blocked pan India                                                                                                | 2.26 lakh                                  |
|    5 | WhatsApp accounts disengaged which were linked with mobile connection taken on fake / forge documents or involved in cyber-crime | 7 lakh                                     |
|    6 | Lost / stolen mobile handsets traced through Sanchar Saathi portal                                                               | 11 lakh                                    |
|    7 | Mobile connections disconnected as reported by citizens not taken by them                                                        | 39.61 lakh                                 |
|    8 | Mobile connections disconnected exceeding the prescribed limit                                                                   | 65.77 lakh                                 |
|    9 | No. of principle entities (PE) sending SMS, headers and content templates blocked                                                | 20,096 PEs 31,615 headers 2 lakh templates |
|   10 | Disconnected mobile connections shared on DIP                                                                                    | 5.03 crore                                 |

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