The Department of Telecommunications has announced that its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) system has blocked suspected cyber fraud transactions totalling over ₹5,000 crore in its first fifteen months of operation. Launched on 22 May 2025, the FRI uses telecom intelligence to flag high-risk mobile numbers before fraudulent payments leave a citizen’s account. The system represents a shift from investigating fraud after it happens to preventing it before any money moves.
How the system works and its reach
The FRI operates as a risk-assessment framework under the Department of Telecommunications’ Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP). It categorises mobile numbers as Medium, High, or Very High risk based on their likelihood of involvement in financial fraud. The classification draws from citizen reports submitted through the Sanchar Saathi platform, data from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, and intelligence shared by telecom operators, banks and other financial institutions.
Financial institutions including banks, payment service providers, insurers and pension sector entities receive this intelligence in real time. When a citizen attempts a transaction from or to a flagged mobile number, the system alerts the financial institution within a fraction of a second, allowing them to block or flag the payment before it is processed.
The scale of prevention has grown rapidly. In the first six months after launch, FRI blocked ₹660 crore in suspected fraud. By August 2026, cumulative prevention reached ₹5,043.73 crore. Over ₹2,000 crore was prevented in just four months from April to August 2026 alone, as more banks and payment platforms integrated the system.
The DIP platform now coordinates with more than 1,600 organisations. The Department has conducted over 25 training sessions for 1,500 banks, financial institutions and regulators on how to use FRI signals in their fraud detection workflows.
What this means for you
If your bank or payment app shows a warning about the mobile number you are transferring money to, that warning comes from FRI. Pausing to verify the recipient independently could save you from losing money to a fraudster. Citizens are also encouraged to report suspicious calls, messages or emails through the Sanchar Saathi portal, since each report strengthens the intelligence that protects others. In case of suspected fraud, calling 1930 or reporting immediately on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal is important, as the first hour is critical for recovery.