SIM Swap Fraud: Detect and Report 2026

Reviewed on: 2026-06-19.

In a SIM swap attack, a fraudster convinces your mobile operator to transfer your phone number onto a SIM card that the fraudster controls. Once they hold your number, every OTP sent to that number goes to them instead of you. This gives them the ability to reset banking passwords, authorise fund transfers, and bypass two-factor authentication on your accounts, all without ever touching your phone.

The attack typically follows a two-stage pattern:

1. Data harvest stage. The fraudster first collects your personal details, such as your Aadhaar number, date of birth, registered mobile number, and bank details. This information is gathered through phishing calls posing as bank or TRAI officials, fake KYC update links, or data bought from breached databases.
2. SIM replacement stage. Armed with your details, the fraudster approaches your operator's retail outlet or customer-care channel, pretends to be you, claims the SIM is lost or damaged, and requests a replacement. If the operator's verification is weak, they succeed and your original SIM is deactivated within minutes.

No official government portal currently lists a definitive set of SIM swap signals, so the signs below are widely recognised indicators that should prompt you to act at once:

• Your phone shows no network or “SIM not registered” even though you are in a coverage area.
• You stop receiving calls and SMS messages that you would normally receive, including OTPs.
• You receive an unexpected SMS from your operator about a SIM change or port-out request you did not initiate.
• Your bank sends a transaction alert or your banking app shows transactions you did not make.
• You receive calls asking for OTPs you did not request.

If you notice any of these signs, treat it as an emergency and act immediately, not the next morning.

Call your mobile operator's customer-care helpline and ask them to:

• Verify whether a SIM swap request was submitted on your number.
• Block or freeze the rogue SIM immediately.
• Reissue your original number on a fresh SIM at the nearest authorised centre.

Keep a note of the complaint or reference number the operator gives you. This will be needed for follow-up complaints.

Visit Sanchar Saathi and open the TAFCOP (Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection) service at tafcop.sancharsaathi.gov.in. Log in with your mobile number via OTP, and the portal will show all connections currently registered in your name across all operators.

If you see a connection you did not request:

1. Select it and mark it as “This is not my number” or “Not Required”.
2. Submit the report. The DoT forwards it for re-verification by the operator, which can lead to disconnection of the fraudulent SIM.

If money has been lost from your account because of the SIM swap:

1. Call 1930 (the National Cyber Crime Helpline) and report the financial fraud immediately. The earlier you report, the better the chance of freezing the flow of funds.
2. File a written complaint at cybercrime.gov.in under the Financial Fraud category. Have your bank account number, transaction details, and the operator reference number ready.
3. Also refer to how to report cyber fraud on 1930 for a step-by-step walkthrough of the portal filing process.

For information on recovering money lost to cyber fraud, see how to get a refund after cyber fraud.

Call your bank immediately and:

• Report the fraud and ask them to block internet banking and UPI on your account temporarily.
• Request a reversal of any unauthorised transactions made using OTPs delivered to the rogue SIM.
• Ask for a written acknowledgement of your complaint, as this will support any future dispute resolution.

If you received suspicious calls or SMS messages in the days before the SIM swap (for example, a caller pretending to be from DoT, TRAI, or your bank), report that communication separately through the Chakshu portal:

1. Visit sancharsaathi.gov.in and select Chakshu - Report Suspected Fraud Communication.
2. Choose the medium (call, SMS, or WhatsApp), select the relevant fraud category such as impersonation or KYC/payment fraud, and provide the communication details.
3. Verify with your mobile number via OTP and submit.
4. The DoT reviews reports and may take action including subscriber reverification, disconnection, and police referral.

Chakshu does not guarantee action against every reported number, but it builds the evidentiary record and contributes to network-level fraud pattern detection.

Sanchar Saathi is the Department of Telecommunications citizen portal that brings together several services relevant to SIM fraud:

For a SIM swap specifically, TAFCOP and Chakshu are the two services to use.

If your operator ignores your SIM swap complaint or fails to act within a reasonable time, escalate to TRAI. See how to file a telecom complaint with TRAI for the full process, including the operator nodal officer route and the Telecom Consumer Complaint Redressal Forum (TCCRF).

Most commonly through phishing: calls pretending to be from your bank, TRAI, or DoT asking you to “update KYC” or “verify your Aadhaar.” They may also use data from phishing links, malware, or purchased data. Never share your Aadhaar number, OTP, date of birth, or bank details with anyone over the phone, no matter who they claim to be.

Try calling the operator's helpline from a different phone or a family member's number. Ask whether your number shows as active, and whether any SIM replacement request was submitted. A network outage affects many subscribers; a SIM swap affects only your number.

Yes, if your WhatsApp or email account recovery is linked to your mobile number via OTP, the fraudster can take over those accounts as well. Once you recover your SIM, immediately log out all other sessions in WhatsApp (Settings > Linked Devices), and check your email account's active sessions and recovery options.

Call 1930, file on cybercrime.gov.in, and alert your bank at once. Also see OTP bank scam: what to do and how to recover money lost to cyber fraud for the RBI zero-liability framework and the steps for getting a refund from your bank.

This depends on your operator. In practice, same-day reissuance at an authorised store is possible if you present identity proof. Contact your operator's nodal officer if the frontline team is unresponsive.

Not automatically, but the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal can coordinate with banks and payment platforms to freeze linked accounts when fraud is reported quickly. Speed matters significantly here, so report without delay.

Yes. Visit check your cybercrime complaint status to track the progress of complaints filed on cybercrime.gov.in using your complaint number.

If your telecom operator fails to act on an unauthorised SIM swap, or if you suspect the operator's internal process was compromised, you can file an RTI application to:

File an RTI to: your telecom operator's nodal officer and the DoT (Sanchar Saathi)

• Whether a SIM swap or replacement request was received for your number and on what date.
• What identity documents were accepted for the SIM replacement, and whether they were verified.
• The name and employee ID of the customer-care agent or retail outlet that processed the swap.
• What action was taken after you reported the fraud to the operator, and on what date.
• Whether a referral was made to law enforcement and, if so, the FIR or complaint number.

→ Use our free AI RTI Drafter to generate a complete Section 6(1) application.

• Sanchar Saathi portal: https://sancharsaathi.gov.in
• TAFCOP service: https://tafcop.sancharsaathi.gov.in
• Chakshu fraud reporting: https://sancharsaathi.gov.in (via Citizen Centric Services > Chakshu)
• National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal: https://cybercrime.gov.in
• National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930

By Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak