Cybercrime is at an all-time high in India nowadays. Every day we receive spam calls, messages, and notifications from various apps, out of which some might actually have the power to wipe out our bank accounts if not ignored. Messages containing random links just need a tap to rob the user of his/her money. In an effort to curb this menace, the Government of India has launched two platforms- one for consumers and one for telecom operators that will help the government nab these financial fraudsters and offer an added layer of safety to the consumers.
The Department of Telecommunications announced Chakshu and DIP platforms yesterday. Chakshu makes reporting on fraud calls and messages simple and allows real-time intelligence sharing among various stakeholders.
Union Telecom and IT Minister Mr. Ashwini Vaishnav said, “Chakshu will allow Indian citizens to report fraudulent communication received on call or SMS or social media like WhatsApp. Once such information is received, the platform will trigger re-verification, and failing re-verification the number will be disconnected.”
This will come in handy when criminals impersonating bank or government officials try to call individuals and ask them to update their details for bank accounts or other utility connections.
Last month when TRAI published its recommendations about launching a caller identification app across domestic networks, Ashwini Vaishnav announced that the government is trying to make such an app and is open to partnership with private platforms like Truecaller to offer better protection.
Currently, Chakshu is not available to Individuals. It will only act as an information exchange and coordination platform among telecom companies, law enforcement agencies, and banks, financial institutions, government authorities, and social media platforms.
The government is also aiming to create a grievance redressal platform to report connections disconnected inadvertently and also a gateway to return money that had been frozen.
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For now, Chakshu will be a backend app for requests made by citizens on the Sanchar Saathi platform. For those who don’t know, the Sanchar Saathi platform was launched in May 2023 to track or block lost or stolen devices. The platform has helped track over 700,000 mobile phones and detected over 6.7 million unsafe communication attempts. The platform has helped avoid losses of about 1000 crores.
While Chakshu is for agencies, the Digital Intelligence Platform aka DIP is for consumers. It is a part of the Chakshu and Sanchar Saathi apps and can be used by citizens to report any numbers, messages, or phishing attempts.
All they have to do is log in to the Chakshu window on the Sanchar Saathi app and fill out a form with details about how the fraudster tried to contact them. They will have to define what category their complaint falls in like fake consumer helpline, fake KYC, impersonation, etc. Screenshots of the same will have to be uploaded and any other details known will also have to be shared.
Data will be shared in real time with all the stakeholders involved. DIP will serve as a unified platform to report these frauds immediately. The government claims that this is a natural progression from the app launched last May and it will allow the detection of cyber fraud in a better way. In May 2023, it was claimed that with the Sanchar Saathi platform, international fraudulent calls had been controlled as well.
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