The Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Ministry of Communications, has revealed that 93,081 telecommunication scam cases have been reported across India to date, signaling a sharp rise in fraudulent communication incidents.
These scams involve deceptive messages related to bank accounts, payment wallets, SIM cards, gas or electricity connections, KYC updates, expiration notices, government impersonation, sextortion, and more.
The DoT has so far received 93,081 scam reports through calls, SMS, and WhatsApp. Of these, 60,730 cases were reported via calls, 29,325 through WhatsApp, and 3,026 through SMS. Uttar Pradesh led with the highest number of cases, reporting 10,392 incidents.
To date, 89,970 cases have been resolved, including 80,209 call reports, 5,988 WhatsApp cases, and 997 SMS incidents. In response, 2,776 mobile handsets, 997 headers, and 5,988 WhatsApp accounts have been blocked. Andhra Pradesh recorded the most actions taken, with 13,380 cases resolved in its Licensed Service Area (LSA).
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In McAfee’s inaugural ‘Global Scam Message Study’ conducted in 2023, it was found that Indians spend an average of 1.8 hours per week identifying fraudulent messages, receiving approximately 12 scam or fake messages daily. The study also revealed that 82% of Indians have fallen victim to fake messages, with the most common types being fake job offers (64%) and bank alerts (52%).
