Centre launches Chakshu facility allowing citizens to report suspected fraud communication: Check details

The Union Government on Monday, launched the 'Chakshu' facility on the Sanchar Saathi portal, allowing citizens to proactively report suspected fraud communication. Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Union Minister of Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology, launched the 'Chakshu' initiative and also launched the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)'s 'Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP)' to coordinate efforts among stakeholders to reduce the misuse of telecom resources in cybercrime and financial fraud.

Speaking on the occasion, Vaishnaw stated that the government has been making consistent efforts to combat cyber fraud through the Secure India project at three levels: national, organisational, and individual.

The minister stated that the Department of Telecommunications has undertaken numerous initiatives to raise awareness so that citizens can use such tools to address their complaints while also protecting themselves from cyber-frauds.

He cited the "Sanchar Saathi" portal as a key factor in successfully combating such attacks. The Minister stated that the tools, along with the two portals, DIP and Chakshu, will significantly improve the capacity and ability to detect any type of cyber security threat.

Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal stated that these two new portals are yet another step towards dealing with the cyber security threat to all citizens' digital assets. He emphasised that these tools will aid in the prevention of fraudulent behaviour and the misuse of communication systems.

The Department of Telecommunications developed the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), which is a secure and integrated platform for real-time intelligence sharing, information exchange, and coordination among stakeholders such as telecom service providers (TSPs), law enforcement agencies (LEAs), banks and financial institutions (FIs), social media platforms, and identity document issuing authorities.

The portal also contains information about cases where telecom resources were misused. The shared information may be useful to stakeholders in their respective domains.

It also serves as a backend repository for citizen-initiated requests on the Sanchar Saathi portal, awaiting action by stakeholders.

What is Chakshu?

The official statement stated that Chakshu is the latest addition to the citizen-centric facilities already available on the Sanchar Saathi portal of DoT.

The official statement added, "Chakshu facilitates citizens to report suspected fraud communication received over call, SMS or WhatsApp with the intention of defrauding like KYC expiry or update of bank account / payment wallet / SIM / gas connection / electricity connection, sextortion, impersonation as government official / relative for sending money, disconnection of all mobile numbers by Department of Telecommunications etc." 

It said in case, a citizen is already a victim of cyber-crime or financial fraud, it is advised to report at cyber-crime helpline number 1930 or website https://www.cybercrime.gov.in of Government of India. 

(With Agency Inputs)