“Saavdhaan Agar Aapko Anjane Number Se…”: DoT’s new ‘warning message’ to Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea subscribers – Times of India

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed Telecom service providers (TSPs), including Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea, to play cybercrime awareness messages to subscribers as caller tunes 8-10 times per day for the next three months.
According to a report by news agency PTI, this initiative aims to combat the rising incidence of cyber fraud in the country. Several members of The Times of India Tech team have already started listening to the ‘warning’ messages when they call friends and family.
“Saavdhaan!!! Agar aapko anjane number se police judge ya cbi ke call aate hai…” the warning starts.
DoT has also shared a post on X about the warning, saying “Stay aware, stay safe.”

The caller tunes is provided by the I4C

The caller tunes, provided by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), will be played as pre-call announcements or ringback tones. Telecom operators have been ordered to implement this directive immediately.
“Different caller tunes related to cybercrime will be provided on a weekly basis for a period of three months,” the order stated.
This move comes in response to the increasing prevalence of sophisticated cyber scams, such as the “digital arrest” scam where fraudsters impersonate police officers or judges to extort money from victims.
To further combat such scams, the government and TSPs have implemented a system to identify and block international calls that are “spoofed” to appear as if they are originating from Indian numbers.
The government recently took action to block fraudulent SIM cards and devices. As of November 15, over 6.69 lakh SIM cards and 1.32 lakh IMEIs (International Mobile Equipment Identity) reported by police have been blocked.