Airtel Launches Fraud Detection Solution to Block Rogue Sites

New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) Airtel on Thursday launched a fraud detection solution that will identify and block malicious websites across all communication Over-The-Top (OTT) apps and platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, email, and others in real time.

The service is currently available in Haryana circle, with a nationwide roll-out planned soon.

The move assumes significance given the rising instances of digital frauds where unsuspecting users are lured online and deceived by scamsters leveraging advanced techniques, malicious links and fake profiles.

Airtel in a release said: "In continuation of its fight against spam, Airtel today unveiled a new cutting-edge solution that will detect and block malicious websites across all communication Over-The-Top (OTT) apps and platforms including emails, browsers, OTTs like WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, SMSes etc., in real time."

The service will be integrated with, and auto-enabled for all Airtel mobile and broadband customers at no additional cost, the telco said.

This means, when a customer tries to access a website flagged as malicious by Airtel's advanced security system, the page load will be blocked, and customers will be redirected to a page explaining the reason for the block.

Airtel drew attention to the threat of online fraud growing everyday as a result of digital platforms becoming increasingly ubiquitous across the country and posing a serious risk to consumers.


"There is an alarming surge in such threats in the last few days. Fraudulent schemes have evolved far beyond mere OTP frauds and deceptive calls, with recent reports indicating that millions of individuals have fallen victim to malicious online scams," it said.

Airtel said it has implemented an AI-powered, multi-tiered intelligence platform designed to safeguard customers from the full spectrum of scams and fraud.

It intends to do so by introducing a threat detection platform that will conduct domain filtering across all platforms and block the link across devices, it said.

"Over the last few years, we have come across several instances where unsuspecting customers have been defrauded by ingenious criminals of their hard-earned money. Our engineers have tried to solve this problem through the launch of our Fraud Detection Solution," Gopal Vittal, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel, said.

Airtel believes this will provide customers total peace of mind while browsing the internet without the worry of getting scammed.

"Our AI-based tool scans internet traffic, checks with global repositories and our own database of threat actors in real-time and blocks fraudulent websites. Our solution has already reached a remarkable level of accuracy in the 6 months of trials," Vittal added.

Airtel said it will continue working relentlessly until its networks are completely safe from spam and scam.