In a bid to combat mobile fraud and online scams, telecom major Airtel has informed the Centre and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) that it has approached its rivals Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea with a proposal to jointly address the growing menace of telecom-related fraud. The company has called for a united industry initiative to tackle the rising wave of deceptive and malicious scams targeting consumers.
Airtel’s move comes amid a surge in sophisticated cybercrime tactics—ranging from phishing links and fake loan offers to fraudulent payment pages—that have resulted in a spike in digital fraud and identity theft cases. The Sunil Mittal-led firm recently rolled out a fraud detection solution that blocks rogue sites across communication platforms and over-the-top (OTT) apps, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, and Instagram.
In separate letters to other telecom service providers (TSPs), Airtel cited alarming data: India recorded over 1.7 million cybercrime complaints in the first nine months of 2024, resulting in financial losses exceeding Rs 11,000 crore. “These sophisticated fraud schemes often exploit the gaps in coordination between service providers,” Airtel wrote to Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal and Trai Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti.
Providing an update on its efforts, Airtel informed the authorities that, as part of its commitment to industry-wide action, it reached out to fellow TSPs on May 14, 2025, proposing the launch of a Joint Telecom Fraud Initiative. “However, given the recent alarming rise in phishing attempts and malicious URL-based scams targeting unsuspecting individuals, it became evident that more coordinated industry action was needed,” the company said.
Sources indicated that Airtel Vice Chairman and MD Gopal Vittal is expected to directly reach out to customers regarding the growing threat of financial frauds. “The upcoming customer mailer from the top executive will outline various Airtel initiatives, including an AI-powered solution to identify and mark suspicious spam calls and SMSes,” a source said.
“It will also highlight new fraud detection technologies capable of scanning suspicious links across all OTT apps and social media platforms in real-time, and blocking them proactively,” the source added.
“Fraudsters today are targeting people not just through calls and texts but also via chats, emails, and social media apps,” Vittal noted. “They send urgent or alarming messages, pretending to be from a bank, electricity board, or delivery service, to trick users into clicking malicious links.”
“These links appear incredibly authentic—almost indistinguishable from legitimate ones. Once clicked, they steal your personal and financial data to defraud you. We’ve seen an alarming surge in such threats in recent days,” he added.