You have got (fake) mail from RBI

Source :Piyush Pandey, TNN Oct 12, 2011, 03.33AM IST

 A recent email doing the rounds, purportedly from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), informs account-holders that they are in for a windfall as the central bank has decided to release unclaimed deposits to the beneficiary.

The email, the latest version of online frauds, is full of errors. It states that RBI governor D Subbarao met with the senate committee on finance, although there is no such committee.

RBI spokesperson Alpana Kilawala said the mail was fraudulent, there was no such communication, and Subbarao had not attended any such meeting. "We lodge police complaints when such fraudulent mails are brought to our notice. We have put up two advisory notes on our website asking people not to pay money to receive funds from abroad. RBI never asks for your bank account details."

Scams employed by fraudsters include one where the recipient is told to send funds to cover the cost of remitting proceeds of a lottery he has won.

 In another phishing scam, account-holders are sent a link to a website that looks like the genuine homepage of a bank site, but is a trap to record the useras password. International scamsters seek account details of individuals whom them entrap into acting as a˜money mulesa as a conduit for transferring funds stolen from other accounts.

The fake RBI email states that the recipient is listed as a beneficiary in the recent schedule for payment.

 "We are writing this email to inform you that 750,000 GBP {Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Great British Pounds Sterling} will be release to you, as it was committed for (RBI) Governor that Beneficiary will have to pay crediting fees only. So you are therefore required to pay 24,500 INR ONLY. To credit your account immediately making a decline for 2 working day after date of receiving this mail. Also reconfirm/provide your bank account details-for crediting."

An earlier statement by RBI advised the general public against responding to offers of moneys from abroad. It stated that they are fraudulent and advised people to immediately register a complaint with the local police or cyber crime authorities when they receive such offers or become a victim of such fraud.