- Never disclose confidential information of your insurance policy like policy number, premium amount, login id and password to anyone on call, SMS, email or in person
- Your confidential information can be used by fraudsters to take loan against your insurance policy, file unauthorized claim or change the nominee
In this digital age, you may have stored your financial information online, protected by passwords and digital keys but this information can be accessed by fraudsters through a simple phone call.
Therefore, the first step to ensure fool-proof security is to be alert. As they say — forewarned is forearmed. You should be alert and careful in responding to calls, SMS or any other messages you may receive relating to your investments, bank accounts or insurance policies to avoid any fraudulent transactions.
You might receive a fake call, message or email from someone, claiming to be a representative of the insurance company or the Insurance Regulator (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India -IRDAI). The caller will try to trick you in to disclosing sensitive policy information, or your insurance account login id or password. Fraudsters can use your insurance details to file bogus claims or surrender the policy. They can get loans sanctioned against your insurance policies or even change the nominee of your policy.
Remember, IRDAI as a regulatory body, will never contact an individual investor, either to sell insurance or to announce any bonus. Even insurance companies will not ask you to disclose your confidential information. If you get a call from someone claiming to be from the insurance company, it’s best to be cautious. If the caller asks you to make a fund transfer to their account directly, beware as it is fraud call. Do not give any information and immediately get in touch with the insurance company to lodge a complaint. Do not take any action like surrender, purchase, or funds transfer in your policy on basis of just a phone call or message.
Take the example of Anita, a 30 year old project manager from Mumbai. A man, claiming to be an ‘officer’ from the IRDAI, called her to check if she had a life insurance policy. When she replied in the affirmative, he asked her the name of the insurer and other policy details.
The ‘officer’ was persuasive and, and said he was conducting a survey to understand investment patterns of people in her age group for which he needed the details of her insurance policy like policy number and date of birth.
Thankfully, Anita was alert and refused to part with this information
Anita protected herself against fraud. It is time you become watchful too. Be alert, be informed and stay safe!
