Telcos to snap 1.8 million mobile connections in cybercrime crackdown

In an unprecedented countrywide operation, telecom operators are set to disconnect approximately 1.8 million mobile connections in one go to curb cybercrime and online fraud, reported The Economic Times (ET), citing officials.

This move follows an extensive investigation by various law enforcement agencies to track the misuse of mobile connections for cybercrime and financial fraud.

“During investigations, it was detected that in many instances, a single handset was used with thousands of mobile connections,” an official told ET.

On May 9, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) instructed telcos to disconnect 28,220 mobile handsets and re-verify over two million mobile connections linked to these handsets.

“Typically, we have found that in such instances, only 10 per cent of the connections get verified and the rest get disconnected, failing re-verification,” the official said, adding, “The disconnection will be done once the telcos complete the reverification in 15 days.”

This development comes amid a steady rise in mobile phone-based cybercrimes in the country. According to the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), victims of digital financial fraud lost Rs 10,319 crore in 2023. Over 694,000 complaints were received in 2023, as reported by the parliamentary standing committee on finance.

Officials highlighted that fraudsters typically use SIM cards from different telecom circles and frequently change the combination of SIM and handset to evade detection by law enforcement agencies and telcos.

“For instance, an Odisha or Assam circle SIM could be used in Delhi NCR. To avoid detection, fraudsters make only a few outgoing calls and then change the SIM as too many outgoing calls from the same number would get detected by telco systems,” a second official said.

As part of an earlier investigation, telcos had disconnected around 200,000 SIM cards last year for alleged involvement in cybercrimes. In another instance, investigations in areas like Mewat in Haryana led to the disconnection of over 37,000 SIM cards.

A coordinated action

To effectively combat cybercrime, the government believes that telcos need to be more proactive in detecting usage patterns of SIMs, particularly those purchased outside home circles.

“As part of their roaming detection system, telcos can instantly capture when a person moves out to a different circle,” the second official said.

Similarly, when thousands of SIM cards are used with one handset, telcos are generally equipped to detect it.

“If telcos take proactive measures at their end, it can be helpful in combating online fraud,” the official added.

Telecom carriers are mandated to implement a fraud management and prevention system within their networks and report any suspect subscribers. As part of the unified licence, call detail records for outgoing calls made by customers need to be analysed, especially in cases where subscribers make numerous outgoing calls day and night to various telephone numbers.