Sunil Mittal's Bharti Airtel says it protected 2250000 users from...; days from launching...

Indian billionaire Sunil Mittal runs India's second-largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, which competes with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio. Airtel has launched several projects to protect its users amid the rising cases of online fraud. Now, the Mittal-led company has said that it has protected more than 2.25 million (22.25 lakh) users in Punjab from falling prey to online fraudsters within 35 days of its nationwide roll-out of an AI-powered fraud detection system.

Airtel, on May 15, launched a fraud detection solution that identifies and blocks malicious websites across all communication Over-The-Top (OTT) apps and platforms, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, email, and others in real time. Auto-enabled for all Airtel mobile and broadband customers, the advanced system scans and filters links across SMSes, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, e-mail and other browsers.

How Airtel's fraud detection system works

It leverages real-time threat intelligence to examine over 1 billion URLs daily and blocks access to harmful sites in under 100 milliseconds. For instance, if a user receives a suspicious message that reads: "Your package is delayed. Track it here: ... And if the unsuspecting user clicks on the link, Airtel's system also clicks into gear. It instantly scans the link, and if flagged as suspicious, it blocks access. The user is redirected to a warning message that reads: "Blocked! Airtel found this site dangerous!"

This real-time interception prevents users from falling victim to all kinds of frauds, the company said. Across the country, Airtel has blocked more than 188,000 malicious links and shielded 86 million users, according to the statement.

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How fraudsters target users

According to the company, fraudsters increasingly target users through phishing links, fake deliveries and spurious banking alerts. The AI-driven platform delivers fraud warnings in the user's preferred language, including Punjabi. The solution operates in the background and requires no installation and is offered free of cost, the company said.

(With inputs from PTI)