New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday issued an advisory, alerting citizens to ignore the calls from companies/agencies/individuals posing as TRAI officials.

“It has been brought to the notice of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that some companies/agencies/individuals are fraudulently asking public/customers that they are calling from TRAI and mobile numbers of the public/customers will be disconnected as the numbers are being used for sending unsolicited messages,” the regulator said.

“It is also informed by these companies/agencies/individuals that AADHAAR numbers of the public were used for obtaining  SIM cards and are being used for illegal activities. These companies/agencies/individuals are also trying to trick the customers/public to come on Skype video call to avoid disconnection of mobile numbers,” it added.

The public at large is hereby informed that TRAI does not block/disconnect any mobile number of any individual telecom customers, the regulator said.

“TRAI never sends any message or make any call for disconnection of mobile numbers. TRAI has not authorized any agency to contact customers for such activities and all such calls are illegal and are to be dealt as per Law. Therefore, any call or message claiming to be from TRAI should be considered potentially fraudulent,” it said.

TRAI said that Access Service Providers are responsible for taking steps against such fraudulent callers as per Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR) 2018 of TRAI.

“Access Service Providers are responsible for taking appropriate actions against the mobile numbers involved in sending unsolicited communications,” it said.

Affected persons may take up the matter with the concerned Service Providers directly on their respective Customer Service Center numbers or on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal https://cybercrime.gov.in or call Cyber Crime Helpline Number 1930, the advisory said.