Stating that gullible investors have easily become the victim of frauds by people impersonating themselves as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employees, the RBI said that it never contacts people through unsolicited emails or phone calls to get their personal information or simply to inform them about lottery winning.

As said by the RBI, “Many people have already become prey to frauds and they have incurred huge losses by falling for such fictitious offers. The public is advised to get their complaints register with the local law enforcement agencies. The central bank has urged the public to remain alert and not to become victims of such frauds or scams perpetrated by individuals who impersonate themselves as its employees.

Further added by the apex bank, “The only official and genuine website of the RBI is www.rbi.org.inand the public should act carefully and not get misled by fake websites which have similar web addresses starting with ‘Reserve Bank’, ‘RBI’, etc., along with fake logos.”

Detailing the modus operandi of the fraud, the central bank stated that the fraudsters send attractive offers to gullible public via different modes, like letters, e-mails, SMSes, etc. To make it more credible, the communication is often sent on or from letterheads or websites that look like that of some public authorities like that of the RBI.