Navi, FACE and DoT’s Sanchar Saathi launch festive cyber safety campaign

MUMBAI: Ravana may have ten heads, but festive fraudsters have plenty more tricks up their sleeves. Navi, the Fintech Association for Consumer Empowerment (FACE) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have teamed up for ‘No ‘Ten’sion This Festive Season’, a campaign using Dussehra’s symbolism to help consumers spot ten common digital scams.

Launched around Dussehra and coinciding with Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the initiative aims to make cyber safety more accessible as online shopping, digital payments and festive offers gather pace across India. The campaign will roll out through short-form videos on Navi’s social media channels, combining familiar festive situations with practical advice on avoiding fraud.

The three organisations are focusing on a simple message: pause before paying, verify before trusting and report suspected scams rather than acting in haste.

The campaign brings together Navi, Sanchar Saathi, the citizen-centric telecom safety initiative of the DoT, and FACE, an Reserve Bank of India-recognised self-regulatory organisation for the fintech sector. Their collaboration aims to encourage safer digital behaviour during the festive season and beyond.

Sanchar Saathi offers tools to help citizens identify and report suspected telecom-related fraud. Its Chakshu facility allows users to report suspicious calls, SMS messages and WhatsApp communications. The portal also enables people to check mobile connections registered in their names and block lost or stolen handsets.

According to the DoT, citizen reports through Sanchar Saathi have helped prevent suspected cyber-fraud losses exceeding Rs 5,000 crore.

FACE, meanwhile, works to promote responsible practices across the fintech sector, with consumer protection at the centre of its approach. Through the campaign, the organisations aim to turn awareness of digital risks into practical steps consumers can follow in everyday transactions.

The campaign will highlight ten common festive scams, including fake delivery notifications, fraudulent shopping websites, bogus cashback offers, QR code fraud, impersonation attempts and misleading cash offers. These tactics often exploit the rush of seasonal shopping and the temptation of deals that appear too good to miss.

Alongside scam awareness, the initiative will promote ten cyber safety habits. These include enabling multi-factor authentication, keeping financial apps updated, reviewing app permissions and switching on transaction alerts.

A separate series, ‘Scam or Safe? Festive Edition’, will feature an expert examining everyday festive scenarios to help viewers distinguish legitimate transactions from potential fraud.

The campaign addresses how scammers use urgency, fear, impersonation and attractive offers to pressure consumers into sharing sensitive information or transferring money without proper checks. Its short-video format is designed to make these warning signs easier to recognise and remember.

With digital payments now woven into festive shopping and celebrations, the initiative seeks to remind consumers that convenience should not come at the cost of caution.

The takeaway is worth keeping beyond Dussehra: celebrate freely, but let no festive offer rush you into a costly mistake.