New Delhi: The Centre on Friday said that 1.77 crore mobile connections obtained through fake documents have been disconnected so far. These connections have been identified through Artificial Intelligence (AI). Apart from this, four telecom service providers (TSPs) have successfully implemented an advanced system in collaboration with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), under which 45 lakh fake international calls have been prevented from entering the Indian telecom network so far.

The telecom ministry said that in the next phase, a centralised system is being set up which will eliminate the remaining fraudulent calls across all TSPs. This system is expected to be operational soon.

DoT has introduced an advanced system designed to identify international fraudulent calls and block them before they reach consumers.

49,930 mobile handsets also blocked

The ministry said that out of 1.77 crore mobile connections, 33.48 lakh have been shut down in districts which are cyber crime hotspots. 49,930 mobile handsets involved in cyber crime have also been blocked in these districts. 77.61 lakh mobile connections have been shut down of those who had taken more mobile connections than the prescribed limit.

2.29 lakh mobile phones blocked

A total of 2.29 lakh mobile phones have been blocked for cyber crime or fraud related activities. Out of the total 21.03 lakh stolen or lost mobile phones registered so far, 12.02 lakh have been traced. Banks and payment wallets have closed about 11 lakh accounts that were linked to blocked mobile connections.