Govt blocked 7.81 lakh SIM cards, 3K Skype IDs, 83K WhatsApp accounts till February, LS told

The law enforcement agencies have blocked over 7.81 lakh SIM cards linked to digital frauds till February 28 this year, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar, replying to a written query, said a total of 2,08,469 IMEIs reported by police authorities have been blocked by the Government of India. The International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) is a unique number assigned to every phone.

In addition, the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), which functions under the Ministry of Home Affairs, has proactively identified and blocked more than 3,962 Skype IDs and 83,668 WhatsApp accounts used for digital arrest, the minister said.

“The Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System, under the I4C, has been launched in 2021 for immediate reporting of financial frauds and stopping siphoning off funds by fraudsters. So far, around Rs 4,386 crore have been saved in more than 13.36 lakh complaints,” Kumar said in the reply.

As part of the 14C, a national cybercrime reporting portal (https://cybercrime.gov.in) has been launched to enable public to report incidents pertaining to all types of digital crimes, with special focus on crimes against women and children, the minister said.

He said the crimes reported on this portal, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action are handled by law enforcement agencies in the states and Union Territories concerned.

The minister said a toll-free helpline number — 1930 — has been operationalised to assist in lodging complaints.