DoT to Share Financial Fraud Risk Indicator Data With Banks, UPI Service Providers and Financial Institutions

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Wednesday announced that it would begin sharing Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) data with financial institutions, including banks, NBFCs and UPI service providers. This metric classifies mobile numbers based on three risk levels connected with financial fraud, and it is based on an analytical tool developed by the Digital Intelligence Platform, according to the telecom department. PhonePe is one of the first service providers to use FRI data to warn users via PhonePe Protect.

FRI Uses Data From I4C's NCRP Platform, DoT's Chakshu Portal

According to details shared by the DoT, FRI metrics are designed to help financial institutions protect their customers against cyber fraud and financial crime when users make digital payments. FRI data is generated from an analytical tool built on the government's Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP).

One of the biggest challenges in identifying numbers used for scam calls and cyber fraud is that criminals regularly change the phone numbers used to target victims. The FRI metric allows service providers to display an advance indicator on the risk associated with these phone numbers.

Financial institutions and service providers will also have access to the updated Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL) along with the reasons for the disconnection, sourced from the telecom department's Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU).

The DoT says that with the FRI system, once a stakeholder flags a suspicious phone number, it will be analysed and categorised as Medium, High, or Very High, in terms of financial risk. The DIP enables this classification to be instantly shared with other banks, NBFCs, and UPI service providers.

The classification for these numbers is based on data sourced from intelligence shared by banks and financial institutions, as well as the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre's (I4C) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and DoT's Chakshu platform,

Alerts from the DIP will soon be supported on three of the biggest UPI service providers in India — Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. The DoT says that PhonePe was one of the first FRI adopters and will decline digital transactions with numbers that are categorised as Very High risk, as part of its PhonePe Protect feature. The platform is adding a proactive user warning before transactions with Medium Risk numbers are allowed.

The DoT also revealed that another unnamed 'leading' UPI provider as added more safeguards, including transaction delays and requiring user confirmation for alerts. Similarly, banks are also attempting to prevent cyber fraud by using FRI data sourced from the DIP, according to the telecom department.