Spam Calls And Messages: Govt To Issue Guidelines Soon Spam Calls And Messages: Govt To Issue Guidelines Soon 
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare said on Friday that the department will soon issue guidelines to prevent spam calls and messages in order to safeguard consumers' interests.golden plus
"The Department of Consumer Affairs has been working on the prevention of pesky calls, and we had to engage with all the stakeholders on this," Khare told reporters on the sidelines of a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) event. "We are working on it, and very soon, we will release the guidelines," she said.
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In June, the Department of Consumer Affairs released draft guidelines to address the issue of unsolicited or promotional calls received by consumers. While the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had issued final rules in 2018 to tackle the menace of pesky calls and messages, it took additional steps this year with stricter, phased directions, including some modifications. The regulator has set December 11 as the deadline to implement a mechanism for tracing messages and and stop transmission of all messages that do not comply with the guidelines.
A survey conducted by LocalCircles in February found that over 60 per cent of the 60,000 Indians surveyed received three or more spam or pesky calls daily over the past year. Spam calls are defined as unsolicited, repeated, or unwanted phone calls made to large groups of people through mobile or landline numbers for advertising, telemarketing, or customer acquisition purposes. If these calls result in fraud, they are referred to as scam calls.
Out of the many scam calls that cause people to incur heavy losses, several have made headlines. In a recent case, a man in Maharashtra’s Thane city lost Rs 59 lakh after cyber fraudsters coerced him into paying money by posing as Customs and CBI officials and threatening to take action against him for his alleged criminal activities. The incident occurred between November 26 and December 2, according to news agency PTI.
UPI Scams In India: How To Protect Yourself From Digital Fraud? Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Friday (November 29) that three individuals were arrested for extorting Rs 21 lakh from a senior citizen in Srinagar by posing as central government officials.
“The scammers accused the victim of involvement in money laundering amounting to Rs 6.8 crore and issued fabricated arrest warrants and penalties to intimidate him. Through psychological manipulation, they declared that their conversations were ‘national secrets,’ instructed the victim to lock his house, and avoid communication with others. They also falsely promised a refund within hours,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar, Imtiyaz Hussain, at a press conference.
In another bizarre case in Mumbai, a 77-year-old woman was duped of Rs 3.8 crore by scammers posing as law enforcement officers. The scammers, who kept her under digital arrest for a month, falsely accused her of being involved in a money laundering case, according to news reports. The scam began with a WhatsApp call claiming a parcel she allegedly sent to Taiwan had been intercepted. They also sent a fake crime branch notice. Initially, the woman transferred Rs 15 lakh, but over the course of a month, a total of Rs 3.8 crore was taken. After not hearing about the money and the case, the woman shared the details with her daughter, which led to the fraud being exposed.
In another case, a 26-year-old woman from Mumbai was coerced into stripping during a video call and extorted Rs 1.7 lakh by fraudsters posing as Delhi Police officials. The victim, contacted by the fraudsters on November 19golden plus, was accused of involvement in a money laundering case. The scammers threatened her with arrest and forced her to book a hotel room for questioning during a video call. During the call, they tricked her into sending Rs 1,78,000 for bank account verification. They also instructed her to strip for a body verification. Realising the fraud, the woman filed an FIR on November 28.