Rajan cautions public against frauds in RBI's name

The fraudsters initially ask potential victims to deposit small sums of money for processing fees or transaction fees.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan on Monday cautioned the public against any fictitious e-mails in his or the central bank's name demanding money, and asked people not to fall prey to such frauds.

"Let me emphasise that Reserve Bank never sends out e-mails asking for payments. “We have about $360 billion worth of foreign exchange reserves and we also have about Rs 8 lakh crore (Rs 8 trillion) of government bonds.

“We really don't need your money," Rajan said at the launch of Unified Payments Interface system.

In the past, there have been instances of people getting fake e-mails in the name of RBI or Governor promising high returns and winning lottery.

The fraudsters initially ask potential victims to deposit small sums of money for processing fees or transaction fees.

The victims are asked to deposit the money in a specified account in a bank.

"So, if you get an e-mail from me saying you won a competition or a lottery and I am going to send you Rs 50 lakh (Rs 5 million) but please send Rs 20,000 as transaction cost, just junk that e-mail.

“We do not send out money and we don't also ask for your money," the Governor said.

Rajan on Monday launched UPI that will empower users to perform instant push and pull transaction seamlessly.

He said the country has the most sophisticated public payment infrastructure in the world which can be accessible to anybody who enters the system.

Image: RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters