In view of increasing cyber frauds in the country, RBI has asked the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) to tighten KYC norms for SIM card replacement and prepare a hot list database of phone numbers to prevent rising digital frauds.
A person with knowledge of the matter said on condition of anonymity that according to the RBI’s assessment on cyber fraud data, a large proportion of these were found to be fraudulently issued replacement SIMs. While in other cases, a number was used for fraud, there was still no database available that could be used to block these numbers.
He also told that such numbers can be used to commit more frauds.
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RBI has told DoT that the requirement of KYC should be very high while seeking SIM replacement. RBI said that this will prevent fraudsters from using this SIM to access the one-time password and defraud bank accounts linked to that number.
However, RBI is also separately suggesting that the DoT set up a centralized website that will have details of hotlisted numbers that have been used to perpetrate frauds.
Such databases can be linked to financial institutions to provide advice and prevent fraud.
RBI has launched ‘RBI Kehta Hai’, a digital literacy campaign in the media, with an aim to educate customers about the modus operandi of fraudsters, along with the right tips to avoid such frauds.
