NEW DELHI: Nearly 4 million mobile SIM cards have been blacklisted across India as part of an AI-powered nationwide effort to curb rising instances of telecom and financial fraud.
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), working with telecom providers and financial entities, has relied on digital tools such as the Financial Risk Indicator (FRI) and the ASTR facial recognition system under the Sanchar Saathi initiative to detect anomalies in user behaviour and documentation.
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Aadhaar Misuse, SIM-Swap Frauds Trigger Crackdown
Authorities flagged widespread misuse of Aadhaar credentials, many forged or cloned to obtain multiple SIMs under the same identity. These connections were then exploited for crimes including phishing, SIM-swap scams, OTP theft, and impersonation across digital banking and UPI platforms.
The AI system identified irregularities such as issuance of more than nine SIMs per identity or suspicious transaction behaviour. In such cases, telecom operators were alerted to initiate re-KYC procedures. If verification failed or documents were found invalid, the SIMs were immediately disconnected.
Real-Time Detection and Operator Accountability
The FRI tool has been flagging up to 2,000 high-risk mobile numbers daily since its rollout in May. Alongside, the ASTR platform allows real-time facial recognition and ID verification to authenticate users.
Telecom companies are required to act promptly on alerts by verifying identities and deactivating non-compliant numbers. Agents found facilitating fraudulent registrations have also been blacklisted from issuing further SIMs.
The crackdown comes amidst rising cybercrime incidents involving spoof calls, fake job offers, and online investment fraud. Many of these scams rely on SIMs obtained with stolen or fake identities.
DoT officials confirmed that operator compliance is being monitored both at the state level and nationally, with data being tracked across telecom circles.
The initiative highlights the government’s shift toward data-driven enforcement and proactive identity protection measures. As digital transactions continue to rise, the drive is expected to act as a deterrent against future misuse of telecom infrastructure.