The cybercrime awareness caller tune featuring iconic actor Amitabh Bachchan will be removed starting Thursday, according to an NDTV report. The message was part of a government campaign to raise awareness about increasing cyber fraud cases in India.
The caller tune, which played before every phone call, was facing widespread criticism. Many people complained that it caused delays during emergencies, making it harder to connect urgent calls quickly.
The campaign has ended, which means that the caller tune will be removed now, the NDTV report mentioned, citing officials familiar with the matter.
Recently, Bachchan also faced online trolling over the repeated warning message, which many people found annoying.
On Monday, the veteran actor shared a random post that read: "Ji haan huzoor, main bhi ek prashansak hoon. Toh?? (Yes, sir, I'm a fan too. So??)."
A social media user replied to the post and wrote: "Toh phone pe bolna band karo bhai (So stop saying it on the phone)."
Toh phone pe bolna band kro bhay
June 22, 2025To this, the actor said: "Sarkar ko bolo bhai, unhone jo kaha humne kar diya (Tell the government, I did what they told me to do)."
Earlier, Amitabh Bachchan was roped in by the Union Home Ministry's Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) for the caller tune awareness campaign in September 2024. The campaign was launched by the government in response to rising cyber fraud cases in India. Scammers have been using new technologies to target vulnerable individuals, especially senior citizens. Through the tune, Bachchan's voice was cautioning people about these evolving threats and how to deal with them.
In 2024, cybercrime complaints continued to surge, with 17,10,505 cases reported, according to data from the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP). This figure marked a sharp rise compared to 2023, when 11,31,649 cases were reported, as per the NCRP data. Through these scams, financial losses have also grown significantly from Rs 551 crore in 2021 to a massive Rs 7,496 crore in 2023.
Recently, scammers have begun using artificial intelligence to mimic popular actors and public figures, tricking people into financial scams and fake investment schemes. Increasing cases of digital arrest, UPI frauds and sextortion scams, among others, have also been reported.
To deal with this, in December 2024, the government had taken measures such as directing the telecom operators to play the cybercrime awareness caller tune 8-10 times per day to telephone subscribers for three months.
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