Defence office warns Army officers about ‘fraud calls’
The Indian Express, June 29, 2018
THE office of the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Officers), or PCDA(O), has warned retired and serving Army officers about calls from fraudsters, who pretend to be from the PCDA(O) and seek their account details, on the pretext of giving an insurance bonus. The office, which looks after salaries of all serving commissioned Army officers across the country, has issued an advisory to the officers, asking them not to share such details and, if they get such calls, to immediately report them.
The office of PCDA(O) caters to over 46,000 serving Army officers, right from the Chief of Army Staff, who is of the rank of a General, to the officers of the rank of lieutenant, which is the first rank for commissioned officers. The office looks after the pre-audit and payment of salary, allowances and all claims of Army officers. It also possesses sensitive data about them, such as the places where they are posted and their service tenures.
In the advisory, the PCDA(O) stated, “It has come to the notice of this office that fake calls are being made by some individuals impersonating officials of the PCDA(O) to retired Army Officers and asking them to share their bank details, and telling them to deposit money to get the Army Group Insurance Fund (AGIF) Bonus. All concerned kindly note that no officials from PCDA (O) make calls to Army Officers seeking personal bank details or deposit of money in any bank account. Please inform immediately… in case any Army Officer receives such call, with call details.”
The advisory was issued after such calls were reported recently, said defence sources. “Till now, such calls have been received by retired officers, but our advisory is for both serving and retired officers. The office has issued advisories in the past too, whenever there have been instances of fraud communications, asking for bank details and other information of Army officers. Cyber criminals use these tactics to get personal and financial information, then misuse them…,” said a defence official.
In September 2016, the office of PCDA(O) had issued an advisory, asking Army officers not to open spurious mails that ask for verification of PAN numbers, as the mails were suspected to be infected with malware.
In March and April 2016, in a suspected case of cyber security threat, some officers of the Indian Army had received fake messages through messaging apps such as WhatsApp, informing them that the PCDA(O) had developed an app and the officers could access their accounts through the link in the messages. The PCDA(O) had then issued an advisory to the officers, asking them not to open these links and clarifying that no such app had been developed by it.
Incidentally, the website of PCDA (O) was compromised in April 2015 by hackers, who had posted obscene photos on the website. The website was shut down for a while and was restored after putting advanced cyber security checks in place. In May 2016, the office had launched a new website, which is believed to have more robust security arrangements.
In February 2016, Army chief General Bipin Rawat, who then commanded the Pune-headquartered Southern Command, had said Army officers were receiving suspicious calls, asking for information related to defence. The calls were suspected to be from adversarial countries that were aiming to gather inside information. Such calls were being received by soldiers, children of officers studying in Kendriya Vidyalayas and even railway stationmasters of places where troops conduct exercises, General Rawat had said.
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