With the objective of protecting citizens from potential SMS fraud through the Sanchar Saathi initiative, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), in collaboration with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has taken decisive action, informed Ministry of Communications.

Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), MHA, provided information about misuse of eight SMS Headers for sending fraudulent communications for committing cyber-crime.

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Action taken by DoT:

1. It was noted that more than 10,000 fraudulent messages were sent using these eight headers in the past three months.
2. The Principal Entities which were owner of these eight SMS Headers blacklisted.
3. All the 73 SMS Headers and 1,522 SMS content templates owned by these Principal Entities blacklisted.
4. None of these Principal Entities, SMS Headers or templates can now be used to send SMS any telecom operator.

DoT has prevented further potential victimisation of citizens by blacklisting these entities. DoT has also reiterated its commitment to safeguard citizens against cybercrime.

About Telemarketing SMSs/Calls

1. Prohibition of Mobile Numbers for Telemarketing: It is not permitted to use mobile numbers for telemarketing activities. If a consumer uses their telephone connection to send promotional messages, their connection will be liable for disconnection on the first complaint, and their name and address may be blacklisted for a period of two years.
2. Identifying Telemarketing Calls: Telemarketing calls can be identified by their prefixes: 180, 140, and 10-digit numbers are not permitted for telemarketing.
3. Reporting Spam: To report spam, dial 1909 or use the DND (Do Not Disturb) service.