NEW DELHI: India is increasingly stopping cyber fraud before money leaves a victim's account. A telecom-led risk system has helped banks and payment platforms prevent suspected fraudulent transactions worth Rs 5,043.7 crore in 15 months, govt said, marking a shift from tracing stolen money to intercepting payments in real time, reports Aabhas Sharma.The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), launched by the department of telecommunications in May 2025, assigns mobile numbers medium, high or very high risk ratings. The alerts are fed directly to banks and UPI platforms, allowing them to warn customers or block risky payments.Experts said the system's biggest achievement was making fraud operations costlier.However, fraudsters could turn to SIMs obtained through fraudulent KYC or virtual numbers. An expert said criminals could also evade mobile-number risk scores by obtaining fresh or "aged" SIM cards.