Government launches Chakshu portal to report fraud calls and phone number leaks

The Government has unveiled the Chakshu portal under the umbrella of Sanchar Sathi to enable subscribers to report suspected fraud calls, messages like lottery offers, job offers and even suspected leak of phone numbers by businesses.

Union IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that through digital measures to check fraud and crime, the Department of Telecom Services has been able to help citizens save around Rs 1,000 crore in the last nine months. He also said that Rs 1008 crore has been frozen in various bank accounts that were linked to fraudulent transactions. He stated, "Chakshu is about reporting something which people suspect is fraud."

In response to the query on the procedure regarding the mobile numbers that are leaked by businesses, the minister said that subscribers can report about the number of leaks on the Chakshu portal and action will be taken against the culprit. He said that in the last nine months, one crore mobile numbers have been disconnected that were linked to malicious activities.

The Telecom Department also launched the Digital Intelligence Platform. It will coordinate and share information with law enforcement agencies, banks and other financial agencies to act on fraud.

"With the Chakshu and Digital Intelligence Platform, we think the pace at which we were able to detect and prevent cyber frauds will significantly improve," Vaishnaw said.

An investigation will be carried out on the reported number and action will be taken thereafter, said the Minister. He added that the ministry is working with financial institutions including RBI to recover money, and prevent and freeze accounts in which money has been transferred fraudulently.