Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)

Recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Financial Intelligence Unit–India (FIU-IND) signed a landmark MoU to combat cyber crimes and financial frauds.

Key Aspects of the MoU

• Enhanced Data Sharing: Real-time sharing of Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) data to classify mobile numbers as medium, high, or very high risk.
  • Automatic sharing of Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL) by DoT with FIU-IND, including date and reason of disconnection.
  • FIU-IND will share mobile numbers linked with Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and money mule accounts.
• Technology-Enabled Collaboration: Information exchange will leverage DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) and FIU-IND’s Finnex 2.0 portal.
• Strengthening Cybersecurity Ecosystem: Integration of telecom and financial intelligence enables proactive detection of fraudulent mobile connections before they harm citizens.

About Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)

• FRI is a risk-classification system to flag mobile numbers linked to financial fraud, enabling real-time, risk-based interventions in banking and UPI transactions.
• Launch: Developed and launched by the Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU), Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in May 2025.
• Features
• • Risk Classification: Mobile numbers flagged as Medium, High, or Very High Risk.
  • Data Sources: National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), DoT’s Chakshu platform, bank/UPI reports.
  • Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL): Tracks deactivated or fraudulent numbers shared with financial stakeholders.
• Significance: Helps banks and financial service providers identify, prevent, and mitigate cyber-enabled financial fraud, strengthening digital payment security

About Financial Intelligence Unit–India (FIU-IND)

• It is  national central agency for financial intelligence established in 2004
• Nodal Ministry: Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
• Role: Responsible for receiving, processing, analyzing, and disseminating information on suspicious financial transactions.
  • Plays a key role in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.

About Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU), DoT

• It is a specialized wing of DoT created to curb misuse of telecom resources in cyber crimes and fraud.
• Achievements: Developed AI-based systems like ASTR (SIM fraud detection), Centralised International Out Roamer (CIOR)(spoofed call blocking), Sanchar Saathi portal, and FRI tool.
• Role: It supports over 700 stakeholders including police, SEBI, NPCI, FIU-IND, and 650 banks in safeguarding telecom and financial ecosystems.

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