Govt's fraud risk tool prevents suspected cyber fraud transactions worth over ₹5,000 crore

The government's Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) has helped prevent suspected cyber fraud transactions involving more than ₹5,000 crore since its launch in May last year, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) said on Tuesday.

Cumulative savings through FRI stood at ₹139.16 crore in August 2025 and crossed ₹5,000 crore by August this year.

More than ₹2,000 crore in suspected fraud losses were prevented in the four months from April 2026, the ministry said.

The FRI is a risk-assessment framework developed by DoT that enables financial institutions to assess in real time the likelihood of a mobile number being associated with cybercrime or financial fraud.

The FRI system labels mobile numbers as having a Medium, High, or Very High risk of being linked to financial scams. It gathers data from multiple sources, including the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, DoT’s Chakshu platform, and reports from banks and financial institutions.

The tool, part of the DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), shares critical information with banks, UPI apps, and financial companies to spot risky mobile numbers involved in potential fraud.

Financial institutions can use the information during customer onboarding, transaction monitoring and fraud detection, allowing them to flag or stop high-risk transactions before money leaves a customer's account.

The ministry said the initiative represents a shift from responding to fraud after it occurs to preventing it at the point of transaction.

"Every rupee stopped at source is a fraud that never happened," the ministry said, noting that prevention can avoid the subsequent process of filing complaints, investigations, account freezes, record requisitions and attempts to recover funds.

Cyber fraud proceeds can move through multiple mule accounts within minutes, making recovery difficult once a transaction has been completed.

The DoT has worked with the Reserve Bank of India, National Payments Corporation of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India and other financial-sector stakeholders to integrate FRI signals into fraud-prevention systems.

The framework is also being extended to securities-market intermediaries, insurance companies and pension-sector entities to help prevent fraud involving trading and demat accounts, insurance transactions and pension accounts.

More than 1,600 organisations are now on the Digital Intelligence Platform, while DoT has conducted over 25 training sessions covering 1,500 banks, financial institutions and regulators on FRI methodology, DIP integration and the use of risk signals.

The ministry said citizen participation is also an important component of the system, with reports of suspicious calls and messages through Sanchar Saathi and its Chakshu facility feeding into the intelligence used by FRI.

The government has advised citizens to heed warnings displayed by banking and UPI applications and independently verify payment details before proceeding.

In cases of financial cyber fraud, they should immediately call 1930 or report the incident through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, the ministry said.