Cybercrime may become harder and costlier with Sanchar Saathi, but far from impossible, say Telangana police

A day after the Union government rolled out Sanchar Saathi app for mobile devices, the cybercrime officials of Telangana police said that the move could make committing a cyber fraud significantly harder and costlier, but not impossible.

According to senior officials, the app’s real strength lies in shutting down the anonymity and easy access to SIM cards that fuel most online frauds. “Users can see how many mobile connections exist in their name and block the ones they never took. Fraudsters rely on forged KYC to access bulk SIMs for scams. If people start reporting these instantly, we choke off one of the biggest supply chains of cybercrime,” a Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) official said.

The timing, they pointed out, is critical. Just two days earlier, the Centre issued SIM-binding directions that link messaging apps to the active SIM in a device. Together these steps will make it far easier to trace numbers involved in frauds, particularly ‘digital arrest’, and far harder for criminals to rotate identities at will, said an official from the Hyderabad cybercrime wing.

“This is a proactive approach that stops fraud in its tracks,” said a cyber security expert working closely with the Telangana police. “When a user reports a suspicious number, the app can immediately trigger the telecom operator to block it, cutting off the fraudster’s next moves. In fact, hundreds of other potential victims can be spared from falling prey, because scammers rely on volume, one blocked number can save countless people.”

The app also enables users to block a lost or stolen phone and trace it if someone tries to use it through IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) mapping.

According to Devroop Dhar, a tech expert, this will push up the “cost of doing crime”, likely reducing it by a small percentage. “Access to stolen/lost devices and bulk SIMs is what makes cybercrime inexpensive. The app makes it slightly more difficult. Crime done through legitimate numbers or devices will still slip through; use of SIM boxes, mule accounts and broader financial fraud mechanisms still remains outside the scope of the app,” he said.

Officials also stressed that the Sanchar Saathi ecosystem itself is not new; what the mandate changes is its visibility. If implemented properly, this creates a robust database of attackers and suspicious numbers over time that can be eliminated from the system entirely.

They expect a sharp rise in user awareness and, crucially, in the reporting of suspicious communication impersonation attempts, fake KYC or payment related alerts, investment scam messages, malicious links and unverified APKs. However, officials emphasised that the app cannot be used to file a formal cybercrime complaint.

Officials argue that a similar framework is urgently required on the banking side. “Today, a user has no way of knowing how many bank accounts have been opened with their PAN unless they physically go to banks. Fraudsters have been running high-value transactions through mule accounts. If the RBI introduces a verification field like this, and if it works in tandem with the telecom checks, we can eliminate up to 90% of cybercrime,” said the TGCSB official.