Answer Book question
You can check the SIMs in minutes. The Department of Telecommunications' Sanchar Saathi portal (and app) lists every mobile connection registered against your identity, lets you report any you do not recognise for disconnection, and lets you block a lost or stolen handset by IMEI and report suspected fraud numbers. A person may hold at most nine connections, and unknown SIMs on your name are the commonest starting point of a fraud chain, because they become the 'mule' number. For bank accounts, there is no single public search, but your credit report (Complaints 2) shows loans and cards, and the RBI's rules bar accounts being opened in your name without your KYC.
You can check the SIMs in minutes. The Department of Telecommunications' Sanchar Saathi portal (and app) lists every mobile connection registered against your identity, lets you report any you do not recognise for disconnection, and lets you block a lost or stolen handset by IMEI and report suspected fraud numbers. A person may hold at most nine connections, and unknown SIMs on your name are the commonest starting point of a fraud chain, because they become the 'mule' number.
For bank accounts, there is no single public search, but your credit report (Complaints 2) shows loans and cards, and the RBI's rules bar accounts being opened in your name without your KYC.
A teacher in Thiruvalla checks Sanchar Saathi and finds eleven connections against her Aadhaar, four of them in another state. She reports them; the operators verify and disconnect. One of the numbers had been used in a loan-app fraud; the disconnection and the report protect her when the police trace the number.
in) offers TAFCOP (Know Your Mobile Connections): enter your number, receive an OTP, and see every connection registered to your identity; mark 'not mine' to trigger re-checking and disconnection. CEIR lets you block a lost or stolen phone across all networks by IMEI, find its status, and unblock when recovered. Chakshu lets you report suspected fraud calls and messages (KYC-expiry, lottery, impersonation) for action. 'Know Your Mobile' checks whether a handset's IMEI is genuine.
DoT rules limit connections to nine per person (six in some regions) and require operators to disconnect on a verified 'not mine' report. in. RBI's KYC directions make it unlawful to open an account without the customer's own KYC; if one exists, the bank is at fault and liable. Mule-account recruitment (renting your account for a commission) is itself an offence; warn young relatives.
Sanchar Saathi TAFCOP list for every adult in the household, including parents Any connection you do not recognise: report it immediately, screenshot the page Credit reports from all four bureaus for loans or cards you did not take IMEI of each family phone noted somewhere safe, for CEIR if lost Whether any family member has 'lent' an account or SIM to someone for money
Checking once and forgetting. SIMs get issued against copied documents later; check every few months. Also: parents handing over Aadhaar copies at shops that then 'verify' with a fingerprint. That fingerprint may be activating a SIM.
Kerala police have traced loan-app and digital-arrest frauds to SIMs issued in Kerala residents' names without their knowledge. NRIs returning find connections opened during their absence. Sanchar Saathi works from abroad with an Indian number for the OTP.
Eleven connections against one identity; nine is the limit; four unknown. Report: four disconnections within days. Cost: nil. Time: ten minutes.
The portal does not show accounts, only mobile connections. A number issued against a family member's identity by the family member is legitimate; check with them before reporting. If a fraud has already used a SIM in your name, file at cybercrime.gov.in and keep the Sanchar Saathi report as evidence.
Run TAFCOP for every adult in the house today Report unknown connections; note the reference numbers Pull credit reports; dispute unknown credit; report mule-account approaches
Can someone misuse my Aadhaar? How do I lock it? How do I check my credit report for free, and what if it is wrong?
Fraud prevention
Department of Telecommunications, Sanchar Saathi portal (TAFCOP, CEIR, Chakshu) user guidance · DoT instructions on maximum connections per subscriber and disconnection on 'not mine' reports · RBI Master Direction on KYC Last checked: 22 August 2026. Rates, limits and whether you may qualify change. Confirm with the official source before you act. Ask Kerala Rising: Use only general, non-identifying facts.
Do not send bank, health, legal, property, identity, account, transaction, or loan documents, screenshots, numbers, OTPs, or passwords over WhatsApp. Kerala Rising can explain public sources and questions to take to the responsible bank, office, or qualified professional. com
This page is general orientation, not personal insurance, investment, medical, legal, lending, tax, employment, or professional advice. Rules, rates, deadlines, and decisions can change. Confirm the current position with the named official source and use a licensed or qualified professional where your situation requires one. Kerala Rising does not decide whether you may qualify, approve claims, or promise an outcome.