It's now very easy to identify and report fraudulent calls and messages on your smartphone. The Indian government has launched the Sanchar Sathi portal and app specifically for this purpose. You can report suspicious activity by visiting the Chakshu section of the portal or app. Once reported, the number from which the calls or messages originated will then be blocked.
How to identify fraudulent calls
The government has introduced a new 160 number series for legitimate banking, insurance, and financial calls. If you receive a call claiming to be for banking or other financial services, but the number does not start with 160, it is highly likely to be fraudulent.
How to distinguish between real and fake messages
To distinguish between a genuine and a fake SMS, you need to pay attention to specific sender codes. Knowing these codes can significantly protect you from fraud.
A genuine message will have a sender ID (the text at the beginning of the message) that ends with a dash followed by a specific letter: -S, -G, or -P. If you see these codes, the message is legitimate. Messages from other, often anonymous, numbers should be viewed as potentially fraudulent.
What do these codes mean?
- S (Service): Indicates messages related to banking services, transactions, or telecom services that you have already subscribed to.
- G (Government): Indicates messages related to government schemes or official government alerts.
- P (Promotion): Indicates promotional messages from companies that have been whitelisted by the Department of Telecommunications.
Promotional messages that arrive on your phone are typically sent by trusted entities like banks, e-commerce companies, telecom operators, or government institutions. However, cybercriminals often try to defraud people by sending fake messages that look similar. These fraudulent messages frequently contain links to infected apps. Clicking on these links can compromise your phone, steal your personal information, and allow criminals to carry out fraud.
