Sharing personal information willingly can make you ineligible for compensation: Here’s How

Do you delete fraud alert messages from your bank, telecom provider, or ecommerce apps without reading them? Do you treat these messages as a nuisance? Well, if you nodded in agreement, you will not be able to claim compensation if defrauded after sharing your personal information.

Service providers make efforts to educate consumers

All service providers - be it banks, fintechs, ecommerce apps/websites, telecom operators—regularly send out messages informing users of the growing menace of fraud and how they can take precautions to stay safe. They warn users against sharing their OTPs (one time), account details, and government identification such as PAN and Aadhar details.

Despite these efforts from the providers, people keep falling into the trap fraudsters lay down for them. Often, fraudsters pose as authorised representatives from the service providers and play on people's emotions, for instance, their accounts getting locked if urgent action is not taken or missing out a chance to win an unbelievable prize. They weave convincing stories to come across as trustworthy and once they are able to convince the user, ask for 'only a little bit' of information to revive the account or begin the procedure to have the reward delivered. Similarly, emails—purportedly from the providers that users regularly interact with—urge users to take immediate action. The FOMO (fear of missing out) syndrome often gets the better of good sense and people fall into the trap laid out for them.

Court can deny the claim if the information is shared willingly

In addition to compromising the accounts, stealing money, and causing inconvenience, sharing personal information can render you ineligible to claim a refund in case of a fraud. This is because when you willingly share your information with the scamsters, service providers are absolved from compensating you. A recent fraud incident in Gujarat's Amreli is a case in point where the consumer court denied relief to the victim citing he had shared the details willingly. The victim was defrauded of around 40,000 rupees.

Be vigilant, stay safe

It is, therefore, in your own interest to pay heed to the alert messages from service providers and avoid sharing personal information with people you do not know. Hang up on the call and ignore the emails; call up the provider and inquire about the message. A little vigilance on your part will discourage the fraudsters and keep you safe.

The article has been written by Neetu Katyal, Content and Marketing Consultant

She can be reached on LinkedIn.