-Citizens’ participation boosts fight against telecom fraud

New Delhi, Aug 9(HS): The Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) Sanchar Saathi Mobile App has achieved a significant milestone, surpassing 50 lakh downloads within just six months of its launch on January 17, 2025. The app, designed to empower citizens in protecting their telecom identity and reporting fraud, is available in English, Hindi, and 21 regional languages.

Launched as part of the broader Sanchar Saathi initiative (started May 16, 2023), the app allows users to report suspicious calls and messages through its Chakshu feature directly from their call and SMS logs, check mobile connections registered in their name, block lost or stolen devices, and verify handset authenticity.

According to DoT, citizen participation—termed Jan Bhagidari—has played a pivotal role in the program’s success. Since inception, the initiative has facilitated the recovery of 5.35 lakh lost or stolen phones, disconnection of over 1 crore unauthorized mobile connections, and deactivation of more than 29 lakh fraudulent numbers flagged by users. The Sanchar Saathi portal has recorded over 16.7 crore visits.

To curb financial fraud, DoT also introduced the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), enabling banks and payment service providers to identify high-risk mobile numbers. This has led to the freezing of 10.02 lakh bank accounts and wallets and the imposition of debit/credit restrictions on 3.05 lakh accounts by 34 financial institutions.

DoT has urged all citizens to remain vigilant and make full use of the Sanchar Saathi platform to combat cybercrime and telecom misuse. The app is available for download on both Android and iOS.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar