DoT has launched a new service to prevent cyber fraud and money scams

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There is great news for users who use UPI for shopping or money transfer. The government has removed the tension of users regarding digital payment scams. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Government of India has launched a new service to stop cyber fraud and money scams.

Its name is Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI). This is a tool, which is a part of the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP). This tool will warn in advance about numbers linked to fraud. This service has been launched to improve intelligence sharing with banks, UPI service providers and financial institutions.

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Validation check of flagged mobile numbers

This service will offer fast, targeted and collaborative response to curb frauds in the telecom and financial sectors. FRI will provide cyber protection by checking the validity of mobile numbers flagged while making digital payments. FRI alerts will be based on multi-layered analysis of various data sources. It aims to help stakeholders access the fraud risk level of mobile numbers before processing a transaction.

Medium, high and very high risk categories

The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator classifies mobile numbers into three risk categories – medium, high and very high. The risk category of mobile numbers is determined based on the cases registered through NCRP, inputs from DoT’s Chakshu platform along with intelligence received from banks and financial institutions. These alerts help banks, NBFCs and UPI service providers to stay alert about numbers marked as high risk.

This is how it works

The Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) of the Department of Telecommunications regularly circulates mobile number revocation lists, which contain details of numbers disconnected due to reasons such as involvement in cyber crime, failure to re-verify, and exceeding usage limits. Many of these numbers are linked to financial fraud. FRI warns about risky mobile numbers in advance. When a number is flagged by a stakeholder, the DIP system conducts an in-depth analysis to determine its fraud risk level. This information is immediately shared with all stakeholders.

Let us tell you that PhonePe was one of the first companies to use the FRI system. PhonePe said that it blocks transactions related to ‘very high’ risk numbers and shows alerts through its PhonePe Protect feature. At the same time, for ‘medium risk’ numbers, the company is developing a warning before processing the transaction.

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