Rajan warns against fake e-mails promising money in RBI's name

Echoing warning messages from other financial institutions, Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan on Monday cautioned against fictitious e-mails in his or the RBI's name, demanding money, and asked the public not to fall victim 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 of government bonds. We really don't need your money," Rajan said here at the launch of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, which will permit users to perform instant push and pull transactions.

"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 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," he added.

Rajan was referring to instances of people getting fake e-mails in the name of the RBI or its governor, promising high returns, or of winning lotteries. The fraudsters initially ask potential victims to deposit an amount in a specified bank account as processing or transaction fees.