New Delhi, Jul 12 (IANS): In a significant clampdown on cybercrime and fraudulent acts in the digital world, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Friday suspended as many as 24,228 mobile connections, with immediate effect.

These 24,228 mobile connections were found to be linked with 42 unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) and suspected of repeated fraudulent activity. These 42 IMEI numbers were linked with three mobile numbers.

The DoT said that telecom service providers have been directed to block the IMEI numbers on a pan-India basis.

The DoT crackdown came after complaints by 'good Samaritans' who lodged complaints of cyber fraud on the government portal - Chaksu. The cyber fraudsters were reportedly misusing these mobile numbers for cybercrime and other fraudulent activities.

Notably, Chakshu is an online service by the DoT, which facilitates citizens to report suspected fraud communications. Users can register their complaints on the sancharsaathi.gov.in portal about impersonation or any misuse of services through phone call, SMS or WhatsApp.

Launched in March, the service triggers the re-verification of suspected fraudulent numbers. If the numbers fail re-verification, it gets disconnected.

The IMEI number is a unique 15-digit serial number for identification of particular mobile handsets. Every phone has a unique IMEI number. Lately, the linkage of IMEI with hundreds of numbers has emerged as a worrying trend.