How To Report Fraud Calls And Messages Using Government's Chakshu Portal?
"Chakshu is about reporting something which people suspect is fraud," Union IT and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
Government on Monday unveiled the Chakshu portal under the umbrella of Sanchar Sathi to enable subscribers to report suspected fraud calls, messages like lottery offer, 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 1000 crore in the last nine months and Rs 1008 crore has been frozen in various bank accounts that were linked to fraudulent transactions.
"Chakshu is about reporting something which people suspect is fraud," Vaishnaw said.
When asked about the process put in place on 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. The minister said that 1 crore mobile numbers have been disconnected in the last nine months that were linked to malicious activities.
What is Chakshu Portal?
According to the information on the Sanchar Saathi portal, Chakshu facilitates citizens to report suspected fraud communications with the intention of defrauding telecom service users for cyber-crime, financial frauds, non-bonafide purposes like impersonation or any other misuse through Call, SMS or WhatsApp.
A few examples of suspected fraud communications are communication related to Bank Accounts/Payment Wallets/SIM/Gas connections/Electricity connections/KYC updates/expiry/deactivation, impersonation as Government official / relative, sextortion related etc.
How to use Chakshu portal to report spam calls?
Step 1: Log in to the 'Sanchar Saathi' portal at sancharsaathi.gov.in
Step 2: Select the 'Chakshu' option under 'Citizen Centric Services' window.
Step 3: Go through the disclaimer, uses of 'Chakshu' and click on the 'continue for reporting' option
Step 4: Fill out the form which requires details such as the medium, category, timing of the suspected fraud communication
Step 5: Add your personal details, verify with OTP and submit your complaint.
The Department of Telecom also unveiled the Digital Intelligence Platform that will coordinate and share information with law enforcement agencies, banks and other financial agencies to act on fraud.
Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal said that the two new portals are yet another step in dealing with cyber security threats to every citizen's digital assets. He said the new tools will help curb any kind of fraudulent means and misuse of the communications system.
Here are some of the facilities available on Sanchar Saathi portal:
To know the mobile connections issued in their name and report the mobile connections for disconnection which are either not required or not taken by them,
To report the stolen/lost mobile handset for blocking and tracing,
To check the genuineness of a mobile handset while buying a new/old device,
To report the incoming international calls received with Indian telephone number as calling line identification,
To check the details of licensed wireline Internet Service Providers.
(With PTI inputs)
