Report a Fraud Call, SMS or WhatsApp on Chakshu 2026

Chakshu is the part of the Sanchar Saathi portal where you report the call, SMS or WhatsApp message itself - the fake KYC update, the “your electricity will be disconnected tonight” text, the caller claiming to be from the police. It is a free service of the Department of Telecommunications, and it exists so the government can act against the connection behind the fraud before it reaches the next person.

If the message may be a real operator KYC notice rather than impersonation, first check whether the SIM re-verification SMS is genuine without opening its link or sharing an OTP.

The scale is real. In a press statement dated 3 December 2025, the Ministry of Communications said 1.4 crore users had downloaded the Sanchar Saathi app and were “contributing to information on 2000 fraud incidents per day.”

Most people arrive here having confused two different systems. Chakshu handles the *communication*. The 1930 cyber helpline handles the *money*. Getting this wrong costs you the golden hour, and this guide separates them properly. For checking which SIMs are registered against your own identity, see check SIM misuse via TAFCOP.

Chakshu is a module on the Sanchar Saathi portal run by the Department of Telecommunications. In the portal's own words, it “facilitates citizens to report the suspected fraud communications with the intention of defrauding telecom service users for cyber-crime, financial frauds, non-bonafide purpose like impersonation or any other misuse through Call, SMS or WhatsApp.”

Sanchar Saathi hosts several citizen modules. Chakshu is the reporting one. The others include TAFCOP for mobile connections in your name, CEIR for blocking a lost or stolen handset, KYM for checking whether a handset's IMEI is genuine, RICWIN for international calls showing Indian numbers, and KYI for wireline internet providers.

The Chakshu landing page offers three separate routes. Choosing the right one matters, because they go to different teams.

All three carry the same instruction on the portal: report within 30 days.

• The exact number that called or messaged you, as it appeared on your screen, including any prefix.
• The date and time the communication was received.
• A screenshot of the SMS or WhatsApp message, or your call log entry for a call. Take this before you delete anything.
• Your own mobile number, for the OTP that verifies your report.
• The medium - whether it arrived as a call, an SMS or a WhatsApp message.

Do not delete the message to feel safe. The screenshot is the whole evidentiary value of your report, and it is also what you will need if the matter later becomes a police complaint.

1. Open sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc in any browser, or open the Sanchar Saathi app.
2. Under “Report Suspected Fraud”, select Proceed.
3. Choose the medium through which the communication arrived - Call, SMS or WhatsApp.
4. Select the category of suspected fraud that fits best, such as a KYC update demand, an impersonation as a government official, or a wallet or bank account message.
5. Enter the suspected number exactly as it appeared, along with the date and time.
6. Upload your screenshot and write a short description of what was said or demanded. Keep it factual: what was claimed, what was asked for, and what you did.
7. Enter your own mobile number, request the OTP, and validate it.
8. Submit, and save the confirmation reference on the acknowledgement screen.

Screenshot the acknowledgement. If you later escalate through a grievance or an RTI, that reference is the proof that you reported it and when.

If someone sent you a link rather than a demand - a shortened URL claiming to be a courier tracking page, a refund page or a bank login - use Report Suspected Web Links instead. The portal states that “web links reported will be added to suspected/suspicious repository after analysis”, and applies the same 30 day window.

Report the link even if you did not click it. That is the point of the module: links reported early are what stop the next person from clicking.

If you did click it and entered details, treat it as a live fraud. Change the password on the affected account, and go to the money route described below.

Chakshu's third route covers Unsolicited Commercial Communication, which is the regulatory name for marketing calls and texts. The portal defines it as communication by voice call or SMS “which is not as per the consent given by recipient or as per registered preference(s)”.

On timing, the portal is more specific here than elsewhere: complaints made within 30 days are investigated, while reports made after 30 days “aid in proactively finding spammers”. So a late spam report is still worth filing, it simply will not be investigated as your individual complaint.

For setting your preferences in the first place so the calls stop arriving, see TRAI DND: stop spam calls and SMS.

If you received a call that displayed an ordinary Indian +91 number but you have reason to believe it came from abroad, that is a separate module called RICWIN, short for Report Incoming International Call With Indian Number. It sits at sancharsaathi.gov.in/InternationalCall/ReportIntCall.jsp.

The form asks for the mobile number on which you received the call, your telecom service provider, your circle or licensed service area, and your state. The portal also lists 1963 and 1800-110-420 as alternative reporting numbers for this.

This matters more than it sounds. In a press release dated 24 January 2025, the Department of Telecommunications explained that fraudsters were making calls from abroad while manipulating the Calling Line Identity so the call displayed an Indian mobile number. DoT said its International Incoming Spoofed Calls Prevention System blocked around 90 per cent of incoming spoofed international calls, approximately 1.35 crore in 24 hours, after which the daily figure of spoofed calls carrying Indian numbers fell to about 4 lakh per day. DoT also asked telecom operators to display “International Calls” on calls originating outside India.

The practical rule for you: a call that announces itself as an international call cannot be from DoT, TRAI, the police, the RBI or customs. Those bodies do not call you from abroad. This is the single most common setup behind the digital arrest scam.

This is the section most guides skip, and it is the reason people lose time.

• Chakshu does not recover money. The portal itself carries the note: “If you have already lost money, please report at cyber crime helpline 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.”
• Chakshu does not give you a case number for a police investigation. It is an intelligence input to the telecom system, not an FIR.
• Chakshu does not tell you who owned the number. You will not be told the subscriber's identity, and you should not expect a personal outcome report.
• Chakshu does not block the number on your phone. Blocking the caller on your own handset is a separate thing you should also do.

None of this makes it pointless. Reporting is what gets the connection disconnected at the operator's end, and disconnection is what protects the next target.

Your report goes into the Department of Telecommunications system as an input against the reported number. Where the reports and the analysis justify it, the connection can be disconnected and the associated handset identifiers can be blocked.

The Ministry has published aggregate outcomes for the Sanchar Saathi initiative as a whole. In a statement dated 2 December 2025, the Union Minister for Communications cited 1.43 crore mobile connections disconnected by citizens selecting “Not My Number”, 40.96 lakh fraudulent connections disconnected on the basis of citizen reports, and 6.2 lakh fraud-linked IMEIs blocked.

What you will not get is an individual case update. Chakshu does not run a per-complaint status tracker the way a consumer grievance portal does. If you need to know what action was taken on a specific report, the honest route is an RTI application, described below.

Because Chakshu gives no individual outcome report, an RTI application to the Department of Telecommunications is the only way to find out what happened to a number you reported.

Address it to the Central Public Information Officer, Department of Telecommunications, and keep the questions narrow and factual. Ask for the action taken on the report bearing your acknowledgement reference, the date on which the reported connection was verified, and whether the connection was disconnected. Do not ask for opinions, and do not ask for the subscriber's personal details - that will be refused under the personal information exemption, and a badly framed request gets the whole application rejected.

File it at rtionline.gov.in. For structure and wording, see how to write an effective RTI application.

• Deleting the message first. Without the screenshot you have almost nothing to submit.
• Reporting on Chakshu when money is gone. The clock that matters after a financial loss is the one at 1930, and every hour spent elsewhere reduces the chance of a freeze on the receiving account.
• Waiting past 30 days. The portal applies a 30 day window across all three routes.
• Entering the number wrongly. Drop a digit and the report is worthless. Copy it from the call log rather than typing from memory.
• Reporting the victim's number. Report the number that contacted you, not your own.
• Assuming a reply is coming. No individual outcome is sent. Save your reference and move on.
• Engaging with the caller to gather evidence. Do not call back and do not keep them talking. A screenshot of the log is enough.

No. Chakshu is a free citizen service on the Sanchar Saathi portal operated by the Department of Telecommunications.

No account is required. Your report is verified with an OTP sent to your own mobile number.

Chakshu is for reporting a suspected fraud communication where no money has been lost. 1930 is the cyber helpline for financial fraud that has already happened. The Chakshu page itself directs users who have lost money to 1930 or cybercrime.gov.in.

Yes. The portal names Call, SMS and WhatsApp as the covered mediums for the Report Suspected Fraud route.

The Report Suspected Fraud route names Call, SMS and WhatsApp. However, the Report Suspected Web Links route accepts links received through SMS, RCS, iMessage, email or social media handles, so a suspicious link from another platform can be reported there. For platform-specific account abuse, report inside the platform as well.

No. You will not be given the subscriber's identity, and asking for it in an RTI application will attract the personal information exemption.

Thirty days from receiving the communication, across all three Chakshu routes. For spam specifically, the portal notes that reports made after 30 days still help in proactively finding spammers, even though they are not investigated as individual complaints.

No. Reporting on Chakshu is a report to the department. Blocking the caller on your own handset is separate and you should do it yourself.

Use RICWIN at sancharsaathi.gov.in/InternationalCall/ReportIntCall.jsp, or report on 1963 or 1800-110-420. DoT has documented calls made from abroad that display Indian numbers through manipulation of the Calling Line Identity.

No. It is not an FIR and it is not a police complaint. If you need a police record, file at cybercrime.gov.in or at your local cyber police station.

Yes, practically speaking you can submit the report using the details of the communication they received. The OTP verification uses a mobile number you can access, so sit with them and use their handset where possible.

Both. The Sanchar Saathi app offers reporting from the handset, including from your call log. See our guide to the Sanchar Saathi app for what it does and whether you need it.

Report it again and block it on your handset. Repeat reports against the same number strengthen the case for disconnection at the operator's end.

If the communication referenced your bank account, card or wallet, tell the bank through its official helpline, and never through a number given to you by the caller. If money has moved, that call is urgent.

• Check SIM Misuse via TAFCOP on Sanchar Saathi
• Sanchar Saathi App: What It Does and Whether You Must Install It
• 1930 Helpline Cyber Fraud Script
• File a Cybercrime Complaint
• Block a Lost or Stolen SIM Card
• WhatsApp OTP Fraud Explained
• Digital Arrest Scam India
• AI Voice Scam Recovery
• TRAI DND: Stop Spam Calls and SMS
• Report a Scam Call Number
• Unknown Mobile Numbers in My Name
• Recover Money After UPI Fraud
• AePS Aadhaar Fraud Recovery
• Which Regulator to Complain To
• How to Write an Effective RTI Application

Want to turn a report into a formal complaint, or use RTI to find out what action was actually taken? The RTI Playbook walks you through the full process step by step.

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