EPF Scam: You Should Know About

As incidents of fraud are on the rise and almost all organizations are being touched upon like the recent case wherein taxpayers have been receiving fake message which are being claimed to be from the Income Tax department and says ' to apply for income tax refund formally', there is yet another fraud that is coming to light and in it PF subscribers are being targeted.

Beware of FAKE OFFERS by Websites/Tele calls/SMS/email/Social Media, ASKING TO DEPOSIT MONEY into any Bank Account towards Claim Settlement/Advance/Higher Pension/ or any other service provided by #EPFO. #Fraud #FakeCalls #Lottery

— EPFO (@socialepfo) October 28, 2019

So as a PF subscriber, here are the fine details on how the scam is being carried out:

On its portal epfindia.gov.in, the retirement fund body has put an alert which warns subscribers against sharing their confidential details over phone. "EPFO never asks you to share your personal details like Aadhaar/PAN/UAN/Bank Details etc over Phone. EPFO never calls any member/subscriber to deposit any amount in any bank. Please do not respond to such fake calls", said EPFO.

The above warning might be issued as some of the fraudsters might have claimed to be from the EPFO who would have asked customer's crucial information such as EPF account details, UAN number, bank details etc. There can also be a possibility wherein the PF subscriber has been asked to deposit some amount for claiming their PF money.

There can also be a case where scamsters specifically target individuals who might have placed PF withdrawal claim request online. And fraudsters are using different methods such as phishing mails, calls or posing to be from EPFO in order to rob these PF members.

Importantly, EPFO is currently in the process of crediting EPF interest in subscriber' accoutn for the FY 2018-19 and it is during such times that more such incidences are reported and hence you need to exercise extreme caution.

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