Attention! ₹1.6 crore UN Covid-19 compensation mail from RBI is fake

Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, online banking has seen a massive boom as it became a major source of carrying out financial transactions.

With digital transactions rising, the number of phishing or cyberattacks where fraudsters manage to target your bank account or extract information from you has also gone up.

Recently, a fake post doing rounds on social media platforms claims that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked for personal and bank details of individuals who have won the prize of coronavirus compensation allegedly by the United Nation.

The post also says that an email allegedly from RBI claims that the recipient has won an amount of ₹1 lakh 60 crore from the UN as Covid-19 compensation and is asking for the bank details to claim the prize.

The fake claim looks, which like a spam message says, "Your e-mail address was listed among the RBI promotional on COVID-19 2021 programme and has won ₹1 crore 60 lac from the United Nations as Covid-19 compensation."

The post with the title 'RB1 Compensation' further seeks several personal details including name, mobile number, address , e-mail and even bank account details.

Truth behind the post

A fact check conducted by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) found that no such e-mail has been sent by RBI and termed the post as 'FAKE'.

Taking to Twitter, PIB Fact Check wrote, "An email allegedly from RBI claims that the recipient has won ₹1.60 cr from UN as #COVID19 compensation and is asking for personal & bank details to claim the prize. This email is #Fake. RBI never contacts the public asking for any type of personal information."

The RBI has warned bank account holders of fraudulent transactions and asked banks to ensure proper safety measures with respect to customers' hard-earned money.

RBI has also established a helpline number to report fraudulent activities or illegal transactions or withdrawals.