COVID-19: Cyber security agency cautions against fake PM-CARES UPI IDs

The national cyber security agency has alerted donors against fake 'UPI IDs' for a special fund launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an advisory issued on Saturday, the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) said it has "tracked several fake UPI IDs which are similar to the UPI ID used by the "Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM-CARES) Fund".

CERT-In is the country's nodal agency to guard cyber space.

The advisory identified some of the fake UPI IDs in circulation such as pmcares@pnb,pmcares@hdfcbank, pmcare@yesbank, pmcare@ybl,pmcare@upi, pmcare@sbi andpmcares@icici.

"It may be noted that the genuine UPI ID is "pmcares@sbi"and the registered accountname is "PM CARES," it said, asking people to verify UPI ID and the registered name before making any donations.

"Citizens, donors and organisations are advised to visit the website "pmindia.gov.in"for further details about the fund," the advisory said.

The PM-CARES Fund was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 28 and it has received donations worth crores.

A message on PM's official website says that keepingin mind the need for having a dedicated national fund with the primary objective of dealing with any kind of emergency or distress situation, like posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and to provide relief to the affected, a public charitable trust under the name of'Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund' (PM CARES Fund)' was set up.