New Delhi, Sep 25 : In a big step to curb cyber-crimes and financial frauds, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen data sharing and coordination.

The agreement will allow both agencies to exchange information in real-time, helping to identify and act against fraudsters more quickly.

The MoU was signed by Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Deputy Director General (AI & Digital Intelligence Unit - DIU), DoT, and Amit Mohan Govil, Director, FIU-IND, in the presence of Telecom Secretary Neeraj Mittal and Revenue Secretary Arvind Shrivastava.

Speaking at the event, Mittal stressed the need for government departments to work beyond their boundaries.

'Technology has helped each department achieve its goals, but real progress lies in developing synergies and learning from each other. A joint working group can be the next step to detect shell companies and conduct deeper investigations,' he said.

Shrivastava added that this collaboration would improve the accuracy and speed of fraud detection.

'It is an excellent partnership where both sides will strengthen each other's systems. With the use of technology, I am confident this will deliver high efficiency,' he said.

As part of the MoU, FIU will share mobile numbers linked to suspicious transactions, while DoT will provide details of mobile numbers that have been disconnected due to fraud.

The information will be exchanged through secure, technology-driven platforms like DoT's Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) and FIU's Finnex 2.0 portal.

The partnership is expected to help prevent financial crimes by flagging risky mobile numbers before they are used in fraudulent transactions.

It will also allow banks and financial institutions to carry out stronger risk checks while processing digital payments.

India's digital payment system has grown rapidly in recent years, which has also made it a target for cyber fraudsters.

According to DoT, initiatives like Sanchar Saathi have already helped block 2.84 crore fake mobile connections.

Using the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) system, banks have been able to stop 48 lakh suspicious transactions, preventing a loss of Rs 140 crore.

The new agreement will also pave the way for standard procedures in data sharing and feedback systems, ensuring better national-level fraud detection. Both DoT and FIU will continue to update their strategies to deal with evolving cyber threats.

/IANS