Electricity KYC Update Scam: 392 Mobile Phones Banned By Govt

New Delhi: Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has taken major action against Electricity KYC Update Scam, directing Pan India IMEI based blocking of 392 mobile handsets misused in cybercrime, financial frauds.

"Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has initiated targeted actions to protect citizens in response to reports of fraudulent activities involving mobile numbers in electricity KYC update scams," Ministry of Communications said in a release.

Citizens reported some cases of fraudsters using SMS & WhatsApp messages related to electricity KYC updates and malicious APK files to manipulate and gain control over victims' devices.

The DoT utilized the Chakshu portal for reporting and analyzing fraudulent activities, initially identifying five suspect numbers. The portal’s AI-driven analysis revealed that 392 handsets linked to 31,740 mobile numbers were involved in such fraudulent activities.

The DoT has directed all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for Pan India IMEI based blocking of 392 mobile handsets misused in cybercrime, financial frauds. It also directed them for re-verification of 31,740 mobile connections linked to these mobile handsets. Failure in re-verification will result in - immediate disconnection of reported numbers and blocking of associated handsets.

What Is Chakshu Facility On Sanchar Saathi Portal

Chakshu is the latest addition to the citizen centric facilities already available on the Sanchar Saathi portal (www.Sancharsaathi.gov.in) of DoT. ‘Chakshu’ facilitates citizens report suspected fraud communication received over call, SMS, or WhatsApp with the intention of defrauding like KYC expiry or update of bank account/payment wallet/SIM/gas,connection/electricity connection, sextortion, impersonation as government official/relative for sending money, disconnection of all mobile numbers by the DoT, etc.