In this era of rapid digital advancement, it is crucial to be digitally aware and exercise due diligence when responding to messages, calls, emails, and other communications. Fraudsters employ various tactics, including fake websites, digital arrests, impersonation of officials, fake customer care numbers, and deepfake videos, to deceive unsuspecting individuals.
Even pensioners and the elderly, who are often less tech-savvy, have become the easy targets for such scams. In light of this, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has issued a public notice, warning and urging people to remain vigilant and not fall for false promises.
PFRDA’s public notice alerts people, “PFRDA cautions the general public/ subscribers of NPS & APY who have been receiving spurious calls from unscrupulous individuals demanding large sums of money with the promise to release their corpus of funds in NPS/APY. Fraudulent websites & Mobile applications spuriously referring to PFRDA/ NPS/ APY/ Retirement wealth/ Pension are falsely promising large sums of money as pension or unrealistic returns on periodic contributions being made to the accounts mentioned on the fraudulent websites & Mobile applications”.
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PFRDA reiterated in the notice that it is a regulatory body for the National Pension System (NPS), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), NPS Lite, and NPS Swablamban and “does not involve itself directly or through any representative to offer any scheme to any individual”.
These are the contributory pension schemes where the beneficiary contributes till the age of 60 and then a certain amount of corpus can be withdrawn and annuity received on a monthly basis. However, fraudsters are trying to trick people into promising higher returns than the market and full withdrawal which is not possible.
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What Are The Authentic Sources Of Information From PFRDA?
PFRDA’s official website is www.pfrda.org.in. Any variation in it should cause an alert in users’ minds for a fake website.
PFRDA sends SMS only from this Sender ID 'PFRDAI'. Other IDs are not official and should be avoided.
Official NPS Information Desk:
Call Centre: 1800110708
SMS: NPS to 56677
Official APY Information Desk:
Call Centre: 1800110069
How To Curb Fraudulent Communication And Safeguard Yourself:
PFRDA issued a list of best practices to protect yourself against financial fraud.
“Do not entertain spurious SMS/ Call/Email/letter with unrealistic or false promises.
Do not share sensitive personal and financial details/ PRAN No./ Passwords with any individual/entity.
Exercise caution and perform due diligence when any individual/ entity offers unrealistic returns.
Do not transfer payment/ contribution to unauthorized individuals/ entities.
Use the official websites/ Mobile Applications of PFRDA/ NPS Trust/ Intermediaries registered with PFRDA for activities pertaining to NPS/APY as applicable.
On noticing such fraudulent activities, members of the public are advised to lodge police complaints giving full details in the local police station”.
What To Do If A Fraud Has Happened:
According to the notice, first of all, disconnect your device from the internet, change your mobile and internet password, and freeze your bank accounts and credit cards. Further, lodge a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting official portal https://cybercrime.gov.in or lodge an FIR at the local police station or call the National helpline number 155260 to register a cyber complaint.
NPS And APY Subscribers:
As per PFRDA, there are around 16 million NPS subscribers comprising 9.6 million government and 6.4 million private subscribers. As of February 1, 2025, the number of subscribers in APY was around 62.3 million.
These social security schemes are growing steadily every year, but amid the disruptive technological advancements, sometimes it may be difficult to filter out fake from genuine. PFRDA’s public notice addresses this gap alerting subscribers and users to stay alert and not fall for fraudsters’ tricks.