RBI has, on several occasions in the past, cautioned the members of public not to fall prey to fictitious offers of lottery winnings or remittance of cheap funds in foreign currency from abroad.

Phishing mails offering fake remittance of money as compensation from foreign countries are widely in circulation. Hundreds of people are receiving fraudulent mails these days purportedly from RBI offering a windfall to be paid as compensation from the UK government. To lend credence to the offer, the communication is being sent from website that appear to be like that of RBIs home page, using the names of its officials including the Governor himself and UN General Secretary Ban-Ki-Moon.

Deepak Sharma, one of such receiver informed “the mail claimed I was the beneficiary of outstanding debts that the British government owed to India. It said I am required to pay the sum of £175.00 to the United Nation Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon’s Office in New Delhi to obtain the Letter of Approval (LOA) , then the transfer will be approved and back-up by the United Nation after then the funds will be credited to my bank account successfully”.

Sunil Joshi, a businessman too had received similar mail allegedly from the RBI’s mail id info@rbi.org.in which said that on 29th of September 2013, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan met with the India Tax Committee and Economic Affairs Secretary regarding unclaimed funds which have been due for a very long time, at the end of the meeting the  Governor, mandated all unclaimed funds to be released to the beneficiary as a compensation from the British Government, stating that it is an unfair practice to withhold an individual’s funds in a government basket for one reason or the other for tax accumulations.

The mail further offered that if a fee of 18 thousand rupee was deposited, a letter of approval will be issued for the remittance of fund to the beneficiary.  However,  The RBI has, on several occasions in the past, cautioned the members of public not to fall prey to fictitious offers of lottery winnings or remittance of cheap funds in foreign currency from abroad by so-called foreign entities, individuals or to Indian residents acting as representatives of such entities.

Legal experts suggest people not to fall prey to such offers since they are sheer ponzi  schemes. “ Once the initial amount is deposited, demands for more money follow with more official sounding reasons. After accumulating a sizeable amount in these accounts, the fraudsters withdraw or transfer the money abroad and vanish leaving the victims in a lurch. Many residents have already become victims and have lost huge sums of money by falling for such fictitious offers.

RBI Cautions

RBI does not hold any accounts for individuals. Beware of impersonated names of  RBI officials

Nobody from RBI calls up people about lottery winnings/funds received from abroad

RBI does not send any emails intimating award of lottery funds, etc.

RBI does not send any sms or letter or email to communicate fictitious offers of lottery winnings or funds received from abroad.

The only official and genuine website of the Reserve Bank of India is (www.rbi.org.in) and the public may be careful and not get misled by fake websites with similar addresses beginning with ‘Reserve Bank’, ‘RBI’, etc., along with fake logos.

Inform local police or cyber crime authority about such frauds.

By: Geetha Sunil Pillai