NEW DELHI: Do you remember the popular web series Jamtara? One based on a whole riot of calls and text messages made from this small Jharkhand town aimed at fraudulently robbing cell phone users of their money?
Well, the telecommunications department and the sector regulator are now doubling efforts to stem such growing incidents of fraudulent calls and messages, using artificial intelligence (AI).
The telecommunications division recently conducted an AI-based investigation into an emerging cybercrime hotspot from Mewat in Haryana for SIM verification in an attempt to clear the subscriber base and detected as many as 14,000 fake connections intended for cyber fraud.
Now the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) wants to use AI to monitor stationary Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards, or connections at a specific location, to combat such fraudulent calls after an SOS of the Telecommunications Division came a solution to the disease that affects millions of Indians daily and thousands who lose money.
In India, an individual can own nine SIM cards, except in J&K and the Northeast where it is limited to five. Typically, this rule is abused by criminals to own and use each of those SIMs to call millions of people. And if the crooks are happy with even a small percentage falling for their fraud, they make money, Trai official explained.
The regulator works on the principle that a real SIM card will change location at intervals. But multiple SIM cards – most likely in the name of one person – used from only one place over a period of time can be those used for phishing attempts by cybercriminals posing as legal institutions.
“We are thinking of using technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to detect stationary SIMs that are active in specific locations to block fraudulent calls,” a senior Trai official told ET.
The telecommunications watchdog believes that AI-enabled processes can easily help analyze and detect suspicious mobile SIM cards in case they are still actively found at a specific location without any movement. The regulator also examines the practices worldwide to arrive at a workable solution.
The focus is now on the Mewat region bordering Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, which deserves the dubious distinction of being the new Jamtara. In the recent past it has been reported that as many as 70% cyber fraud with infamous calls originated in Mewat. This included phishing calls and fraud related to banking and online marketplaces.
Trai has taken steps in the past to discourage annoying calls and unsolicited communication.
In March last year, Trai implemented a blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) -based commercial messaging system that allows only registered entities such as banks and retail chain stores to send a predetermined format-based telemarketing text to their customers.
More than 3 lakh businesses, including telemarketers, have already been taken on board by telecommunications service providers after completing the Know Your Customer or KYC process with them.