How to Identify Fraud SMS Messages in India

A lot of times it has been noticed that SMS is received from unknown numbers to scam people.This could be for a Fake Traffic Challan or violation of some rules for which you would be required to pay a certain fine.

It therefore becomes very important for us to understand as to how to identify these fake messages and not get trapped by scamsters.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) has mandated that all  Bulk  SMS senders need to register with them and and an identity is given to all legitimate senders so that consumers can easily identify them. A typical sender ID looks like:

AD-HDFCBK

While it may seem like a complex code, it actually follows a structured format.

SMS Header Breakdown:

The header typically follows a format like [Operator Code][Region Code]-[Business ID]

Operator Codes (First Character):

A: Airtel
B: BSNL
D: Aircel/Dishnet
I: Idea
J: Jio
M: MTNL
R: Reliance Communications
V: Vodafone

Region/Service Area Codes (Second Character):

D: Delhi
M: Mumbai
X: Karnataka
T: Tamil Nadu/Chennai
P: Punjab
A: Andhra Pradesh
G: Gujarat
Z: Maharashtra/Goa

Business Id-It is the name of the Company/Brand sending the message.

New TRAI Suffix Rules (Effective May 6, 2025)

To reduce spam, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) mandated that all Application-to-Person (A2P) SMS include a suffix,

-P (Promotional): Marketing, discounts, and offers.
-T (Transactional): Time-sensitive messages like OTPs and bank alerts.
-S (Service): Service-related messages, such as appointment reminders.
-G (Government): Official government alerts.

A typical message would read like-: AD-HDFCBK-T meaning the message came from Airtel, Delhi Circle, by HDFC Bank (Brand), and is a Transactional message.

If you receive any message demanding money or are requested to click on a link in it-It would be in your interest to verify if it came from a valid number-If it does not carry the Suffix like-P/T/S or G it could well be a message to commit a fraud.

So please be careful and be sure about the sender before clicking on those links in the SMS.