High-Level Meeting Addresses Escalating Online Financial Frauds: Emphasis on Cybersecurity in Financial Services

New Delhi:  Dr. Vivek Joshi, Secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS) under the Ministry of Finance, led a crucial meeting today in New Delhi to address the pressing issues surrounding cybersecurity in the financial services sector. This follow-up session aimed to revisit the concerns raised during the last meeting held on November 28, 2023, and discuss the surge in recent incidents of online financial frauds.

The meeting witnessed the participation of senior officials from various government departments and key stakeholders, including the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Department of Revenue (DoR), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), Department of Telecom (DoT), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center (I4C), National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Punjab National Bank (PNB), and State Bank of India (SBI).

The gathering reviewed the action points identified in the previous meeting and assessed the preparedness of banks and financial institutions in addressing the challenges arising from cybersecurity threats, the growing trend of digital payment frauds, and the readiness of all concerned stakeholders.

Key developments and discussions from the meeting included:

1. DoT’s ASTR Initiative: The Department of Telecom (DoT) introduced अस्त्र (ASTR), an AI/ML-based engine designed to detect mobile connections acquired through fake or forged documents. A substantial number of mobile handsets linked to disconnected mobile connections or misused in cyber-crime and financial frauds were successfully blocked.
2. Bulk SMS Analysis: DoT analyzed 35 lakhs Principal Entities sending bulk SMSs, blacklisting nearly 20,000 entities involved in sending malicious SMSs. Additionally, numerous SMS Headers and Templates were disconnected, contributing to the fight against fraudulent activities.
3. Pratibimb Portal: The portal, highlighting the SIM and IMEI of suspected fraudsters in real-time, led to more than 500 arrests, blocking 3.08 lakh SIMs, around 50 thousand IMEIs, and 592 fake links/APKs, along with 2,194 URLs blocked since April 2023.

Issues discussed during the meeting included onboarding banks and financial institutions on the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System (CFCFRMS) platform, integrating CFCFRMS with the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) to centralize the platform for real-time collaboration, and phasing out regular 10-digit numbers in favor of specific series like ‘140xxx’ for commercial activities.

Further discussions addressed ensuring 24/7 availability of resources to address complaints promptly, developing action plans for returning funds to victims from fraudulent accounts, conducting additional customer awareness programs in regional languages, and standardizing information sharing formats by banks and financial institutions for ease of analysis by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). The collective effort aims to enhance the resilience of the financial sector against cyber threats and safeguard digital transactions.