New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has launched a new digital tool to help financial institutions identify and act on potential fraud risks tied to mobile numbers. As part of its Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), the DoT has introduced the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI).
FRI is a system that categorises mobile numbers as Medium, High, or Very High risk based on their potential involvement in financial fraud. The classification draws from inputs such as public complaints filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), reports from DoT’s Chakshu platform, and intelligence shared by banks and financial firms.
This initiative aims to support digital payment providers in validating mobile numbers before transactions are processed, particularly in the case of flagged numbers.
Mobile Number Data Shared Across Platforms
DoT’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) also shares the Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL) with stakeholders. This list includes numbers disconnected due to reasons like confirmed cybercrime involvement, verification failures, or violations of telecom norms.
These numbers are often reused quickly for fraud before verification catches up, which is where the FRI tool steps in to bridge the time gap. Once a number is reported, it undergoes multi-source analysis and is immediately flagged within DIP for stakeholder action.
PhonePe Among Early Adopters
PhonePe has integrated the FRI system into its fraud-prevention workflow. Transactions linked to “Very High” risk numbers are automatically declined, and users are shown on-screen alerts under its PhonePe Protect feature. For “Medium” risk numbers, the company is testing pre-transaction warnings. According to internal data, PhonePe reports a strong correlation between flagged numbers and actual fraud involvement.
UPI Platforms and Banks Begin Integration
Other UPI platforms, Paytm and Google Pay, are also working on integrating DIP alerts into their systems. Some have started delaying transactions and issuing user alerts in cases of suspected fraud. Several banks are leveraging the shared data to monitor and respond to potential threats in real-time.
