With severe advancement in the technology domain, there has emerged more and more cases of internet fraud with each passing day. In order to prevent these online abuses, government organisations such as national banks and the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) have continued to impart online fraud awareness among various sections of the society. In a recent development, the EPFO has conducted a session in order to incite awareness among people by releasing instructions for their clients.
Pertaining to a query, the EPFO wrote, “EPFO never has or never will direct its members to share personal data of our clients such as Adhar Card numbers, PAN details, bank accounts or OTPs, UANs or any other information.” Writing further, EPFO wrote that their organisation never asks any amount to be deposited via social media links, or whatsapp forwards. Warning their users, they reiterated that one should never answer any calls or texts which may seem suspicious. Providing personal details to such prospects can cause exponential financial loss. Indicating towards such fraud, the EPFO highlighted a Mumbai based case, where an user has to lose out on around ₹21crores, which was withdrawn from its PF account.
Users should understand that EPFO never asks its employees to pay money in order to provide services. One should remember that Aadhar card, PAN card, office related information, payroll and bank account information should not be given to anyone. UANs and passwords should also not be shared with anyone. Other suggestion put forth by EPFO is that one should always use their official EPFO IDs to trade. Besides that, EPFO-related phone numbers should always be active at all times so one can be alerted about any transactions made.
If any user is being asked to pay or pressurized to transact their money, then he/she can file a complaint by calling EPFO’s toll-free number at 1800-118-005. In addition to that, EPFO clients can also be contacted on the official website epfigms.gov. Besides that, the Ministry of the Intelligence has also opened a hotline 155260 to consult cases of online fraud. In this way, one can report any type of online fraud that is being inflicted upon them.
