EPFO Fraud Alert! Avoid THESE mistakes online or you will lose money

New Delhi: To minimise fraud, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has warned its members not to share critical details about their EPF account, personal information, or OTP over the phone or online. EPFO issued a fraud notice due to the growing threat of EPF-related OTP scams and other issues. EPF members should not share personal information like their Aadhaar card number, PAN, bank account number, or UAN number with anybody on WhatsApp or social media, according to the EPFO advise, because they risk losing their money. 

EPFO sent out a message to all members via its official Twitter account. The tweet reads, “#EPFO never asks its members to share their personal details like Aadhaar, PAN, UAN, Bank Account or OTP over phone or on social media.”

EPFO also published a graphic with the Tweet that reads, "ALERT Beware of Fraudsters!" to alert members to the danger they may be facing. EPFO also tweeted that it "never asks for any money through WhatsApp or social media, etc." for any service. EPFO also recommended members not to reply to calls or texts requesting personal information or sharing OTP, since this could lead to fraud.  

People can contact EPFO through its official website, www.epfindia.gov.in, with any questions, suspicious calls or messages, or other issues.

EPFO members should also save their documents online on DigiLocker, a secure cloud-based government-sponsored platform for document security, sharing, and verification. To use DigiLocker's services, which are available for Android and iOS users, you must first log in. EPFO services such as UAN cards, Pension Payment Orders (PPOs), and Scheme Certificates are all available on DigiLocker.

EPFO is one of the world's largest social security organisations in terms of clientele and financial transactions. It is responsible for the regulation and management of provident funds, pensions, and mandated life insurance in India.

The government has approved an 8.5 percent rate of interest for the 2020-21 fiscal year, which will bring great Diwali happiness to five crore EPFO customers. In March this year, the EPFO's ultimate decision-making body, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), chaired by Labour Minister, decided on an interest rate of 8.5 percent on provident fund deposits for the previous financial year, according to PTI.