Airtel's solution flags international calls to prevent scams

A technical solution that Bharti Airtel has put in place shows "International Call" for any calls coming from outside the nation. The Ministry of Communications warned the public to be on the lookout for spoof international calls and said in statement, that other TSPs are investigating the technical viability of doing the same.

On  22nd October, 2024, the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) introduced the "International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System." By altering the calling line identification (CLI), this technology detects calls that seem to be coming from inside India but are actually made by international cybercriminals. These spoof calls have been utilised in cybercrimes such as drug and narcotics in couriers, arrests in sex rackets, threats of disconnection of mobile phones by fraudsters posing as DoT/TRAI officers, and false digital arrests.

Prominent Impact

DoT emphasized, that about 1.35 crore, or 90%, of all inbound foreign calls using altered Indian phone numbers were detected as spoof calls within 24 hours of the system's launch, and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) stopped them from reaching Indian telecom customers. According to recent reports from December 2024, the number of spoof calls detected and blocked using Indian numbers has decreased to roughly 6 lakhs, suggesting that the system has effectively addressed the problem of cybercrimes involving calls made from overseas, although the CLI was altered to appear as an Indian number.

Now, though, scammers have changed their strategies and are using foreign numbers in their dishonest business dealings. It has been observed that scammers are increasingly posing as government officials by phoning from foreign numbers that begin with +8, +85, +65, and so on rather than +91. A specialised task force made up of several stakeholders has been established by DoT to deal with these hoax calls. The task committee recommended, among other things, that TSPs notify customers of "International Call" whenever they get a call from outside the nation. This would make it clearer to consumers that calls of this nature cannot originate from Indian authorities or agencies, such as the Income Tax, Police, or TRAI.

Reporting Fradulent Cases

According to the Ministry, Bharti Airtel has already put this solution into place, and other telecom companies are evaluating the technological viability of doing the same. The Department of Technology further cautioned citizens against answering calls from unknown overseas numbers that do not begin with +91 and purport to be from Indian government officials. DoT also encouraged citizens report such fraudulent messages at Chakshu facility on Sanchar Saathi (www.sancharsaathi.gov.in).