India’s Sanchar Saathi telecom-safety platform has crossed 30 crore visits, with citizen reports now feeding a wider government fraud-intelligence system used by banks, telecom companies and law-enforcement agencies to identify suspicious mobile numbers and stop potentially fraudulent transactions.
The Department of Telecommunications said on October 5 that the platform has also helped recover more than 14 lakh lost or stolen mobile phones and resolve over four crore requests from people checking mobile connections issued in their names.
Citizen reports submitted through Sanchar Saathi are among the inputs used by the government’s Financial Fraud Risk Indicator, which the DoT says has helped prevent suspected cyber-fraud losses of more than ₹5,000 crore.
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30 Crore Visits Since May 2023
Sanchar Saathi was launched in May 2023 as a single platform for telecom-related security services.
Users can report suspicious calls and messages, identify mobile numbers issued using their identity, block stolen handsets and check whether a phone is genuine through its IMEI number.
The portal has now recorded more than 30 crore visits.
Its mobile application has separately crossed 2.8 crore downloads and is available in English, Hindi and 21 regional languages.
The scale makes Sanchar Saathi an increasingly important source of citizen-generated fraud intelligence rather than merely a handset-blocking service.
Chakshu Receives 12.80 Lakh Suspected Fraud Reports
One of the platform’s main tools is Chakshu.
It allows people to report suspicious calls, SMS messages and WhatsApp communications linked to schemes such as fake KYC updates, fraudulent investment offers, job scams, loan frauds and impersonation of police, banks or government officials.
The DoT said Chakshu has received around 12.80 lakh inputs on suspected fraudulent communications.
Those reports have contributed to action in 59.82 lakh cases, including the disconnection of more than 50 lakh mobile connections, according to the ministry.
The figures show how a single public report can potentially trigger action beyond one phone number.
Citizen Reports Feed Financial Fraud Risk Indicator
The most important part of the system sits behind the public-facing portal.
Information gathered through Sanchar Saathi is one of the feeds used by the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator, or FRI.
The FRI provides risk intelligence on mobile numbers suspected of being linked to financial fraud.
That intelligence can then be used by banks and other financial institutions when assessing suspicious transactions.
Instead of waiting until money has been transferred and then attempting recovery, a bank can potentially use the risk signal to warn a customer or stop a suspicious payment before it leaves the account.
DoT Says More Than ₹5,000 Crore in Suspected Losses Prevented
The government says FRI has helped prevent more than ₹5,000 crore in suspected cyber-fraud losses.
This figure should be understood carefully.
It does not mean authorities recovered ₹5,000 crore after fraud had already occurred.
The government says these were suspicious transactions that were flagged or stopped before the money left customers’ accounts.
The DoT had already announced on September 8 that the cumulative value had reached ₹5,043.73 crore as of August 2026, around 15 months after FRI was launched on May 22, 2025.
The October 5 announcement therefore places that earlier figure within the wider growth of the Sanchar Saathi ecosystem.
How the FRI Works
The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator operates under the DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform.
It combines telecom-related intelligence from different sources and assesses whether a mobile number may be associated with cybercrime or financial fraud.
The government says information can come from Sanchar Saathi citizen reports, the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, telecom operators, financial institutions and other fraud-related intelligence.
Numbers can then be classified according to risk.
Banks and payment providers can incorporate those signals into their own fraud-monitoring systems.
This does not automatically prove that a particular mobile number belongs to a criminal.
It is a risk indicator intended to help institutions apply additional checks before completing a suspicious transaction.
More Than 1,600 Organisations Connected
The Digital Intelligence Platform now links more than 1,600 stakeholders, according to the DoT.
These include banks, payment-service providers, telecom operators and law-enforcement agencies.
The system is designed to allow fraud information gathered in one part of the ecosystem to become useful elsewhere.
For example, a suspicious phone number reported by a citizen may later appear in a financial transaction.
If that number has already been flagged through telecom intelligence, a bank may have an additional warning signal before releasing money.
60.96 Lakh Lost or Stolen Phones Blocked
Sanchar Saathi also continues to function as a national lost-phone management system.
The DoT said 60.96 lakh lost or stolen handsets have been blocked, while 37.85 lakh have been traced.
More than 14 lakh handsets have been recovered so far.
When a stolen handset is blocked, it can be prevented from operating normally across Indian telecom networks.
If someone later attempts to use the device, traceability information can be generated and shared with police.
Four Crore Requests to Check SIMs Issued in Users’ Names
Another major Sanchar Saathi feature allows people to check all mobile connections issued using their identity.
This is important because fraudsters frequently rely on SIM cards obtained using stolen, forged or misused identity documents.
The government said more than four crore citizen requests relating to mobile connections in their names have been resolved.
Users can report connections they did not obtain or no longer use.
Such numbers can then be reviewed and, where appropriate, disconnected before they are misused.
Portal Also Targets Spoofed International Calls
Sanchar Saathi allows users to report incoming international calls that appear on their phones as Indian +91 numbers.
Such caller-ID manipulation can make an overseas fraud call look like it originated domestically.
The platform also provides verified customer-care details for banks and financial institutions so that users can independently check whether an incoming communication is genuine.
This is particularly relevant to digital-arrest, fake-KYC and banking impersonation scams.
Prevention Is Becoming as Important as Recovery
India’s cyber-fraud response has traditionally relied heavily on victims reporting losses quickly through the 1930 helpline so banks can attempt to freeze transferred funds.
Systems such as FRI represent a different approach.
The aim is to identify risk before or during the transaction, rather than beginning only after the money has moved through multiple accounts.
That does not replace police investigations, account freezes or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
It adds a preventive layer using telecom intelligence.
Sanchar Saathi Is Not the Place to Report Money Already Lost
The government has also drawn an important distinction between suspected fraud communications and completed cybercrime.
People who receive a suspicious call, SMS or WhatsApp message can report it through Sanchar Saathi or Chakshu.
But anyone who has already lost money should immediately report the incident through the 1930 cybercrime helpline or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Speed remains critical because stolen money can rapidly move through chains of mule accounts.
What this means for you
Use Sanchar Saathi to check whether unknown mobile numbers have been issued in your name, report suspicious calls or messages and block a lost handset. If money has already been stolen, report the fraud immediately through 1930 or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal instead of relying only on a telecom complaint.
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