Provident Fund Frauds You Should Be Aware Of

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has been crediting interest for the financial year 2018-19 to its 6 crore subscribers and recently issued a warning of a scam involving fake calls made to members.

The retirement fund body said that scamsters posing as EPFO officials may call up members asking for personal details like Aadhaar number, PAN, UAN (Universal Account Number), password or OTP to siphon money from EPF member's account.

Note that the EPFO will not call you asking for your details to deposit interest to your PF account or bank account.

In a tweet, the organisation said, "Be informed: #EPFO never asks you to share your details or deposit any amount in the bank. Don't disclose your personal information over the phone."

Be informed: #EPFO never asks you to share your details or deposit any amount in the bank. Don't disclose your personal information over the phone.#HumHainNa#FraudCalls pic.twitter.com/JyJ2rGP4ls

— EPFO (@socialepfo) October 16, 2019

Sharing these details will compromise the security of the EPF account.

Members who are in the process of transitioning from one job to another and yet to transfer their old account balances are usually the ones in the fraudsters' target.

There are also instances where calls are made asking for personal details to complete or update the KYC (Know-Your-Customer) status in the UAN.

For any such EPF related claims or updates, do it yourself over the member passbook application on the EPFO website or contact the HR department at your workplace.