Govt launches Chakshu to report fraud calls, phone number leaks by firms

Government on Monday unveiled the Chakshu portal under the umbrella of Sanchar Sathi to enable subscribers to report suspected fraud calls, messages like lottery offer, job offers and even suspected leak of phone numbers by businesses.

Union IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that through digital measures to check fraud and crime, the Department of Telecom Services has been able to help citizens save around Rs 1,000 crore in the last nine months and Rs 1,008 crore has been frozen in various bank accounts that were linked to fraudulent transactions.

"Chakshu is about reporting something which people suspect is fraud," Vaishnaw said.

When asked about the process put in place on mobile numbers that are leaked by businesses, the minister said that subscribers can report about the number of leaks on the Chakshu portal and action will be taken against the culprit. The minister said that 1 crore mobile numbers have been disconnected in the last nine months that were linked to malicious activities.

The Department of Telecom also unveiled the Digital Intelligence Platform that will coordinate and share information with law enforcement agencies, banks and other financial agencies to act on fraud.

"With the Chakshu and Digital Intelligence Platform, we think the pace at which we were able to detect and prevent cyber frauds will significantly improve," Vaishnaw said.

The minister said that there will be an investigation carried out on the reported number and action will be taken thereafter.

Vaishnaw said that the ministry is working with financial institutions including RBI to recover money, and prevent and freeze accounts in which money has been transferred fraudulently.

He said that 17 lakh mobile numbers have been blocked in the last nine months that were used only once especially for fraudulent activities. Minister of State for Communications Devusinh Chauhan appreciated the efforts of DoT which he said, has successfully completed several projects for countering cyber-security threats. He said that many more such projects are under development to deal with new and emerging frauds, he said.

Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal said that the two new portals are yet another step for dealing with cyber security threats to every citizen's digital assets. He said the new tools will help curb any kind of fraudulent means and misuse of the communications system.