The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has achieved a remarkable milestone in cybersecurity, preventing suspected cyber fraud losses of more than ₹5,000 crore through its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) within just 15 months of its launch on May 22, 2025. According to the DoT, cumulative savings through the use of FRI rose dramatically from ₹139.16 crore in August 2025 to ₹5,043.73 crore by August 2026. The department emphasized that this amount represents money that did not have to be traced, frozen or recovered because it was prevented from leaving citizens' accounts in the first place. As reported by the Ministry of Communications, the initiative had initially averted losses of ₹660 crore during its first six months, with the figure expanding sharply as integration deepened across the wider financial network.
The effectiveness of the FRI system has become increasingly pronounced in recent months. As reported by the Ministry of Communications, more than ₹2,000 crore in suspected losses were prevented in the four months from April 2026 alone. This surge in prevention demonstrates the growing sophistication of cyber fraud attempts and the system's ability to identify and block them proactively. The mechanism relies on a multidimensional model designed to stop suspicious transactions at an early stage rather than pursuing assets after a victim has already incurred a loss. The pace of protection has accelerated sharply as adoption has deepened across banks and payment platforms.
The FRI operates through the DoT's Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), which classifies mobile numbers as medium, high or very high risk based on the likelihood of their involvement in financial fraud. According to the DoT, the risk classification draws intelligence from several sources, including citizen reports submitted through the Sanchar Saathi platform, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre's National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), and information shared by telecom operators, banks, financial institutions and other telecom-related parameters. The Digital Intelligence Platform currently connects more than 1,600 stakeholders, including telecom service providers, banks, financial institutions, law enforcement agencies and government departments. The intelligence generated through the DIP is securely shared with banks, payment service providers, insurance companies, securities intermediaries and pension-sector entities, with the system bridging a critical gap by directly connecting telecom surveillance data with financial defenses.
The DoT described the approach as representing a shift from reactive fraud management to a preventive model, where suspicious transactions can be identified at the point of initiation. As reported by the department, fraud proceeds can move rapidly through multiple mule accounts, making recovery a race against time. In contrast, an FRI check can be completed in a fraction of a second when a payment is initiated. The system allows financial institutions to incorporate risk signals into customer onboarding, transaction monitoring and fraud detection systems, enabling them to identify potentially fraudulent transactions before the money is transferred. The department highlighted that preventing a fraudulent transaction eliminates the need for subsequent recovery efforts, which can involve filing complaints, registering cases, freezing accounts, tracing money and coordinating with multiple institutions. The more than ₹5,000 crore prevented therefore represents only the direct financial losses avoided and does not capture the wider benefits of preventing complaints, investigations, account freezes, record requisitions and other follow-up procedures.
The DoT has conducted more than 25 training sessions covering around 1,500 banks, financial institutions and regulators to familiarise them with the FRI methodology, DIP integration and the use of risk signals in their fraud-prevention systems. Collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and other financial-sector institutions has been central to expanding the system. The government is progressively extending the framework beyond traditional banking and digital payments, with FRI signals being integrated with securities-market intermediaries to help curb fraud involving trading and demat accounts. The framework is also being extended to insurance entities and pension-sector stakeholders to strengthen fraud checks during policy issuance, claims processing and pension-account transactions. The department has urged citizens to independently verify payment details if a banking or UPI application displays a warning about the recipient's mobile number, and to report suspected fraud calls, SMS or WhatsApp messages through Sanchar Saathi. The DoT has emphasised that citizens remain an important source of information within the FRI ecosystem, with reports of suspicious communications submitted through Sanchar Saathi and its Chakshu facility contributing to identifying mobile numbers potentially linked to fraudulent activity.
