Citizens’ Money Saved Before It Is Lost: Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) Prevents Suspected Cyber Fraud Transactions of Over ₹5,000 Crore

Key Highlights:

• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has prevented over ₹5,000 crore in suspected cyber fraud losses through its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI).
• The FRI was launched on May 22, 2025, and achieved this milestone within 15 months of operation.
• It is a real-time risk assessment framework developed under DoT's Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP).
• FRI classifies mobile numbers based on their likelihood of involvement in financial fraud and shares this intelligence with financial institutions.
• This initiative emphasizes proactive prevention of fraud, shifting from a reactive recovery model.
• It involves a "whole-of-Government" approach, collaborating with RBI, NPCI, SEBI, and citizen participation (Jan Bhagidari).

Detailed Insights:

• The FRI helps financial institutions assess the risk associated with mobile numbers in real-time to prevent cybercrime.
• It draws inputs from citizen reports on the Sanchar Saathi platform, the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), and intelligence from telecom operators and banks.
• By incorporating FRI intelligence, banks and payment platforms can identify and stop high-risk transactions before losses occur.
• This preventive approach significantly reduces the need for lengthy investigations, account freezing, and tracing of fraud proceeds.
• The framework is being progressively extended to protect citizens in securities, insurance, and pension sectors.
• Jan Bhagidari is crucial, as citizen reports of suspicious activities on Sanchar Saathi enhance the intelligence powering FRI.
• The Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), launched in 2024, facilitates secure intelligence sharing among over 1,600 stakeholders.
• DIP also includes the Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL), sharing disconnected mobile numbers to strengthen fraud controls.

Key Concepts Involved:

• Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI): A DoT framework providing real-time intelligence to financial institutions on mobile numbers' cyber fraud risk.
• Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP): A secure, nationwide platform by DoT for intelligence sharing and coordination to counter telecom-enabled cyber frauds.
• Sanchar Saathi: A citizen-centric portal by DoT for reporting suspicious calls/messages and managing mobile connections.
• National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP): An online platform for citizens to report cybercrime complaints to law enforcement agencies.
• Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL): A list of mobile numbers disconnected due to cybercrime or other reasons, shared with stakeholders via DIP.