New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications has directed mobile network operators to play cybercrime awareness caller tunes in the subscriber’s preferred regional language, 8 to 10 times daily for three months to all telephone subscribers.

According to the order issued to telecom operators, the caller tunes will be provided by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), a cybercrime wing under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

“To raise public awareness about cybercrime through a caller tune campaign, it has been decided to play audio messages as pre-call announcements or ring-back tones. These messages will be provided to telecom service providers (TSPs) by Nodal Officers of I4C. Each subscriber will hear these caller tunes approximately 8 to 10 times a day,” stated the order. “Different caller tunes addressing cybercrime awareness will be provided weekly over three months,” it added.

The initiative comes in response to a surge in financial frauds involving emerging scams like ‘digital arrests,’ where cybercriminals impersonate Police, Judges or other officials to extort money.

In a parallel effort, the Centre and telecom service providers have developed a system to identify and block international spoofed calls that display Indian mobile numbers, tricking victims into believing they are domestic calls.

Recent cases of fraud, including fake digital arrests, FedEx scams and impersonations of Government and Police officials, stress need for such measures. Till Nov. 15, over 6.69 lakh SIM cards and 1.32 lakh IMEIs reported by Police authorities have been blocked by the Centre.