'Disconnected over 15 lakh mobile numbers issued on fraudulent credentials'

The Department of Telecommunications has disconnected over 15 lakh mobile number that were issued using fraudulent credentials, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of state for telecom Devusinh Chauhan in a written reply to Lok Sabha said the Centre has taken various steps to strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.

"More than 15 Lakh mobile numbers detected to have been issued on fraudulent credentials, have been disconnected by DoT," Chauhan said.

He said that a toll-free helpline number '1930' has been operationalised to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.

"Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has issued directions to TSPs (Telecom Service Providers) on February 16, 2023 to prevent the misuse of headers and message templates for cybercrime/fraud," the minister said.

He said that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C) has been established to provide a framework and eco-system for LEAs (Law Enforcement Agencies) to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.