Cyber Shield: How India blocked Rs 1,800 crore worth of online fraud in just 90 days

Launched by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on September 10, the online suspect registry has been developed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), and can be accessed by states and UTs as well as central investigation and intelligence agencies.

The registry was developed with collaboration from the banks/financial institutions and using it as a central-level database with consolidated data on cybercrime suspects.

“To enhance the fraud risk management capabilities of the country’s financial system, they are now using data from the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), the registry makes it possible to identify cybercriminals as potential threats,” an official said.

A source in the MHA said with the help of the suspect registry, around 6.10 lakh fraudulent transactions were declined, which has resulted in saving around Rs 1,800 crore until December 1 last.

“A few days ago, the Reserve Bank of India has asked all banks to be a part of this initiative and use the suspect registry in their system,” the source said.

On September 10, Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC) was also launched on which representatives from leading banks and other financial institutions of the country, all four telecom service providers, and law enforcement agencies of states/UTs are working together for immediate action and seamless cooperation to tackle online financial crimes. CFMC will serve as an example of “Cooperative Federalism” in law enforcement.

“Until December 1, around 8.67 lakh mule accounts were frozen by various banks and financial intermediaries, 7 lakh SIM cards and 1.4 lakh mobiles have been blocked,” the source said.

Another source said that 11.51 lakh complaints were received at Citizen Financial Cyber Frauds Reporting and Management System — launched in 2021 — and financial fraud transactions of around Rs 3,850 crore have been saved by the Centre. “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (b) of sub-section (3) of section 79 of the Information Technology Act 2000, around 1,03,151 suspicious online content has been blocked by the Centre,” the source said.