Bhubaneswar, May 9: As many as 51,260 fake SIM cards issued by different Telecom operators have been disconnected, said an official release.
The Department of Telecommunication has conceptualised and implemented an Artificial Intelligence-based facial recognition tool called ASTR for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification with a vision to analyze, identify and weed out fake/forged, non-bonafide mobile connections for curbing the menace of Cyber Crimes.
“ASTR has identified 52,088 suspected mobile connections issued by different Telecom operators in Odisha. As per the directions of DoT Odisha, these suspected mobile connections were re-verified by the concerned telecom operators and as a result 51,260 connections were found non bonafide and disconnected,” said Additional DG (Telecom) Odisha Circle BK Nayak in a press statement.
“Based on analysis, a total of 2,417 Point of Sales (PoSs)/SIM sellers who were involved in such fraudulent activities have been blacklisted. Further, police complaints have been made for investigation and taking necessary action against the culprits. The steps taken as above will help to prevent the usage of such fake/forged mobile connections for various illegal activities including Cyber Crimes in Odisha,” he said.
