PF Fraud: Provident Fund Department Sounds Alert, Keep These Things In Mind To Avoid Losses

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
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New Delhi, 5th November 2021: In order to reduce fraud, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has warned its members not to share essential details about their EPF account, personal information, or OTP over the phone or online. 

In view of the increasing threat of OTP scam and other issues related to EPF, EPFO has issued a notice of fraud. As per EPFO’s advisory, EPF members should not share personal information like their Aadhar card number, PAN, bank account number, or UAN number with anyone on WhatsApp or social media, as they run the risk of losing their money. EPFO has sent a message to all the members through its official Twitter account. 

The tweet read, “EPFO never asks its members to share personal information like Aadhaar, PAN card, UAN, bank account or OTP over the phone or social media.” 

The EPFO also published a graphic along with the tweet which read, “Beware of fraudsters!” To alert the members to the dangers faced by them. The EPFO tweeted that it “never asks for any money for any service through WhatsApp or social media etc.” The EPFO recommended members to not respond to calls or texts requesting personal information or sharing OTPs, as it could lead to fraud. People can contact EPFO through its official website www.epfindia.gov.in for any queries, suspicious calls or messages, or other issues. 

EPF members should 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 largest social security organizations in the world in terms of subscribers and financial transactions. It is responsible for the regulation and management of the provident fund, pension, and compulsory life insurance in India. The government has approved an 8.5 percent interest rate for the financial year 2020-21, which will bring great joy to Diwali for five crores EPFO subscribers.