“Your vehicle insurance is due on XX date. If you apply for XXX insurance instead of the existing one by this weekend, you will get 60 per cent off on your premium. This company has a tie-up with us.”
If you receive calls like this and do not cross-check with your vehicle company, you may fall prey to what even the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has claimed is an increasing number of spurious calls making “fictitious and fraudulent offers”. And they do not spare anyone — not even a former Chief Minister.
Earlier this month, the IRDA issued a caution note to the public warning against such calls, especially those that pretend to be from the authority. “IRDA does not involve itself, directly or through any representative, in sales of any kind of insurance or financial products and does not announce any bonus for policyholders or insurers,” the notice said.
A car company representative in charge of its insurance operations in the city said that the culprits get details of vehicle owners from Regional Transport Offices. They zero in on policies nearing renewal period and call posing as vehicle company representatives. “We advise customers not to divulge details of their policies to such callers. There have even been instances of fake receipts been given,” the representative said.
One such customer recalled how he nearly fell prey to the call. “I had even readied a cheque, but the vehicle company called me in the nick of time. The caller also did not follow up because I chose to stay with the existing policy, not the one they were offering,” he said.
Transport Commissioner Ramegowda admitted that such details were in the public domain and available online. “But members of the public can complain to us if they come across such calls and we will take action,” he said.
The IRDA has time and again urged the public to remain alert against frauds or scams perpetrated by those who claim to be employees of the authority or other insurance companies and lodge a police complaint if they come across such calls. However, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Hemanth Nimbalkar said that the police had not come across any such complaint so far.
