LIC policyholder? Beware of these frauds to save your money - Check do's and don’ts

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is the largest insurance service, health and pension plan service provider with millions of policy holders across the country. Considering the vast reach of LIC and a large number of policies it disburses, it can always be vulnerable to attack by scammers. That is exactly what LIC India has warned its policyholders. In its latest alert, LIC warns policy holders over messages asking policyholders to link their Aadhaar number with their policies through SMS. Earlier, LIC had also warned policyholders to stay away from fake or spurious calls. Fraudsters are misleading people posing as LIC officials, agents, IRDAI officials and others. 

LIC says on its website, “Our attention is drawn to some messages circulated in social media with our Emblem and logo asking policyholders to link their Aadhaar number by sending SMS to designated number.” LIC has informed policyholders that no such message has been sent by LIC. Also no facility to link Aadhaar number to policies is available through SMS in LIC. 

LIC has said that when it will enable linking of Aadhaar number with policies through SMS, its website will be duly updated with this information. Hence, policyholders must check with LIC offices before sharing their personal information.

Recently, LIC also asked its customers to beware of misleading telephone calls from people posing as LIC officials, agents, IRDAI Officials, Officials from ECI (Office of the Executive Council of Insurers) etc. and offering alluring benefits.  

As a policyholder, you must know that LIC does not share bonus information with policyholders through phone calls. Also, LIC never encourages policyholders to discontinue their existing policy/policies. 

Here’s a list of do's and don'ts to protect your policy:

Don’ts

• Do not entertain calls from unverified sources. 
• If the caller is persuading you to surrender your policy to claim extra benefits, please do not entertain such calls. 
• Do not get tempted by exaggerated promises regarding benefits of Life Insurance Policies. Do not entertain those who offer extra bonuses and higher benefits. 
• Do not part with your policy details/other information to any caller.

Do’s

• Do verify the identity of the caller and the license issued to them by IRDAI before concluding sales. 
• Always visit LIC website - www.licindia.in - or contact your LIC branch for plan and other product details. 
• Make sure you have registered your policies on LIC portal, as managing the policies become even more easier. 
• If you come across suspicious calls or SMS, report them through email id to [email protected].