Financial Fraud Risk Indicator prevented ₹660 Crore Cyber Fraud Losses

• The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) has helped prevent ₹660 crore worth of cyber fraud losses.
• FRI was introduced by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
• The objective of FRI is to combat cyber fraud and financial crime.

Types of Key Cyber Fraud

Meaning and Nature of FRI

• FRI is a risk-assessment tool.
• It is used to identify mobile numbers potentially involved in financial fraud.
  • Financial fraud includes unauthorized transactions and digital payment scams.
• FRI is a multi-dimensional analytical tool.
• It has been developed as part of the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP).

Mechanism of FRI

• FRI classifies mobile numbers into risk categories.
• The risk categories include Medium, High, and Very High.
• Classification is done using inputs from banks, telecom service providers.
• Classification includes inputs from law-enforcement agencies.
• Classification also relies on citizen reports.

Utility of FRI

• FRI enables banks and financial institutions to generate early fraud alerts.
• Early alerts help in timely identification of suspicious activity.
• FRI supports enhanced due diligence by financial institutions.
  • Enhanced due diligence refers to stricter verification and monitoring.
• FRI helps prevent fraudulent financial transactions.

Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP)

• DIP is a secure, real-time data-sharing platform. It connects telecom operators, banks, fintech entities, government agencies.
• DIP enables coordinated cyber fraud detection and faster intelligence exchange.
• DIP has onboarded a large number of financial institutions.
• DIP includes about 1000+ organisations.
  • These include central security agencies, 36 State and Union Territory police forces, banks and financial institutions, social media platforms such as WhatsApp.
• Faster exchange helps detect misuse of telecom identifiers.
• Telecom identifiers include mobile numbers and SIM-related information.

Other Key Initiatives to Prevent Cyber Fraud

• Legal measures include the Information Technology Act, 2000.
  • The Act provides a legal framework for electronic offences.
• Institutional initiatives include the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).
  • I4C functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
  • I4C acts as a central platform for cybercrime coordination.
  • I4C provides investigation support to law enforcement agencies.
  • I4C supports capacity building against cybercrime.
  • I4C has launched the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System.
• The system allows citizens to report financial cyber frauds.
• The Sanchar Saathi Initiative empowers mobile subscribers.
  • The initiative focuses on awareness and protection against telecom fraud.
  • It includes the Chakshu feature.
  • Chakshu enables reporting of suspected fraudulent communications.
• Another initiative is the Samanvaya Platform.
  • The platform strengthens cyber fraud investigations.
  • It provides analytics-based interstate linkages.
    • These linkages connect criminals and crime patterns across states.