It has come to the notice of the Reserve Bank of India that a fake website of the Reserve Bank of India has been created with the URL www.indiareserveban.org by some unknown person(s). The layout of the fake website is similar to the original RBI website. The home page of the fake website also contains a provision for “Bank verification with online account holders” which appears to have been created with a fraudulent intent of obtaining personal and confidential banking details of customers of banks.

The Reserve Bank of India clarifies that as India’s central bank, it does not hold any accounts for individuals and never asks for personal information such as bank account details, passwords, etc. The Reserve Bank cautions members of public that responding online on such websites could result in compromising crucial personal information that may be misused to cause financial and other loss to them.

Further, members of public are also cautioned about existence of websites such as www.rbi.org, www.rbi.in etc. These URLs may appear similar to the website of RBI. However, these websites have no affiliation with the Reserve Bank of India. Members of public are advised to be cautious while accessing or when providing any information on such sites.

It has come to the notice of the Bank that certain unscrupulous persons posing as RBI officials are sending electronic communication through fake email addresses and false letterheads, advising job aspirants to appear for tests/ interviews/ interactive sessions purportedly as a part of the recruitment exercise for appointment in the RBI.

RBI clarifies that all recruitment related information, viz., advertisement, procedure for submitting application, schedule of examination, list of examination centers, admit card, result, etc. is disseminated only through the RBI website /en/web/rbi.

The members of public are, therefore, cautioned against entertaining and falling prey to such communication received from other sources, on matters related to recruitment in the RBI.

Reserve Bank of India has been periodically reiterating about the activities of unscrupulous elements using the name of RBI and defrauding the common public. These elements use fake letter heads of RBI, send emails impersonating as employees of RBI and lure people with fictitious offers / lottery winnings / remittance of cheap funds in foreign currency from abroad. Targeted public is made to part with money in the form of currency processing fee, foreign currency conversion fee, prepayment etc. RBI has been spreading awareness on fictitious emails through various modes like sending SMS to members of public, outdoor advertising and telecasting awareness films as part of its ‘Public Awareness Campaign’.

RBI reiterates the following:

• RBI does not hold any accounts for individuals.

• Beware of impersonated names of RBI officials.

• Nobody from RBI calls up people about lottery winnings/funds received from abroad.

• RBI does not send any emails intimating award of lottery funds, etc.

• RBI does not send any SMS or letter or email to communicate about fictitious offers of lottery winnings or funds received from abroad.

• The only official and genuine website of the Reserve Bank of India is (https://www.rbi.org.in/ or /en/web/rbi) and members of public are advised to be careful and not get misled by fake websites with similar addresses beginning with ‘Reserve Bank’, ‘RBI’, etc., along with fake logos.

• Immediately inform the local police or cybercrime authority about such frauds.

Members of public are advised not to respond to communication from such people/entities and not to fall prey to fraudulent emails in the name of RBI.