The Life Certificate Verification Scam is a form of Social Engineering Scam where fraudsters pose as bank employees or government officials, claiming a pensioner's life certificate needs urgent submission or verification, while deceitfully obtaining the necessary sensitive information to defraud the victim.
How does this scam occur?
- Initiation Through A Call/ Message: The targeted victim receives a call/SMS/ Instant Messaging App message claiming to be from the bank stating that either the victim's life certificate is pending for submission, or requires verification, or is informed that if a submission is already made, has been rejected.
- Inducing Panic: The fraudster impersonates a bank/government official creates urgency, citing that the victim's pension would stop or the account would be blocked. This creates a sense of urgency and panic in the victim's mind.
- Verification Process: Under the guise of verification of Life Certificate, the victim is deceived into sharing sensitive personal and financial information, such as Card Details, CVV, PINs, OTPs, etc. In certain instances, it may also happen that the victim is asked to install a remote screen sharing app, after which the fraudster has complete control over the victim's mobile device.
- Executing Unauthorized Transactions: Equipped with all necessary access and sensitive information the fraudster executes unauthorized digital transactions thereby defrauding the victim.
Precautionary Measures:
- Banks/Government departments never seek OTP, PIN, or login credentials for life certificate submission.
- Never click on links received through an Instant Messaging App/ SMS/ Email regarding Life Certificate renewal.
- Never download apps from unknown sources and never click on unsolicited and unknown links.