DoT acts on spoofed international calls reported on Sanchar Saathi; telcos block over 20 carriers
The Department of Telecommunications said on 24 January 2025 that telcos had blocked more than 20 foreign carriers handing over spoofed international calls, acting on citizens' reports on the Sanchar Saathi app and portal.
Summary
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said on 24 January 2025 that, acting on citizens' reports on the Sanchar Saathi mobile app and portal, it asked Indian telecom operators to act against foreign carriers handing over spoofed international calls showing Indian (+91) numbers, and the telcos had blocked more than 20 such carriers. The DoT's indigenous International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System had blocked about 1.35 crore spoofed calls, 90% of those identified, in its first 24 hours, and such calls have dipped to about 4 lakh a day.
Key facts
- Announced
- 24 January 2025
- Action
- Telcos blocked more than 20 foreign carriers/aggregators
- Reporting channel
- Sanchar Saathi app and portal (sancharsaathi.gov.in)
- System
- International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System (indigenous)
- Early impact
- About 1.35 crore spoofed calls (90%) blocked in 24 hours
- Now
- About 4 lakh spoofed calls a day
Practice MCQs 2 questions
Through which app and portal can citizens report suspected fraud communications such as spoofed calls to the DoT?
Show answer
Correct answer: A — Sanchar Saathi
PIB 2095917: DoT urged citizens to report suspected fraud communications on the Sanchar Saathi mobile app and portal.
Consider the following statements about DoT's action against spoofed international calls (January 2025): 1. Telcos blocked more than 20 foreign carriers handing over spoofed calls. 2. The prevention system blocked about 1.35 crore spoofed calls in its first 24 hours. 3. The prevention system was imported from a foreign vendor. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Show answer
Correct answer: B — 1 and 2 only
PIB 2095917: telcos blocked more than 20 carriers and the system blocked about 1.35 crore spoofed calls in 24 hours; the system is indigenously developed.