The so-called "cybercriminals" mainly seen in their places in the company named COMPLETE have been confiscating the employees' deposited chit-rich amounts of the Provident Funds (PF) of progressive organizations for their benefits. A case was registered in Hyderabad where the fraudsters gave a call and asked to pay money under the threat of consequences. The victim of the first person was the one who got his PF (UAN) wrongly linked to a fake company. The hiring candidate turned down the applicant after the interview when the one-time employer came across two jobs being done by the same employee simultaneously for the period of his service history.
Before, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) department was having trouble in removing these corruption cases. This is something the PF office sought to take care of, giving the employees an option to 'Detach' the account of the company they did not work for, from their service record.
Cybercriminals Exploiting EPFO Rules
Under EPFO's rules, an employee can't be working in duplicates. Cybercriminals take advantage of this by linking the PF accounts which in essence do not exist to the companies that are their dummies and then they ask for money in return. People who deny the demands are getting access to their bank accounts by unauthorized means and they find that they are connected with the companies in the states including Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.
Complaints about the incidents such as aforementioned have been widespread, EPFO decided to cut time for delinking. In the former days, a precise checking was going on at the regional EPFO offices in each different area whenever an incident with a fraud company happens. However, now, the eligible members should remove the details related to the defrauded company from the PF accounts.
How to Delink a Fraudulent Company from Your PF Account
Employees can now remove unauthorized company linkages by following these steps:
1. Login to the EPF Member Portal
- Visit the EPFO website and log in using your UAN number and password.
2. Access Service History
- Click on the ‘View’ menu and select ‘Service History’ on the homepage.
3. Use the Delink Option
- In the service history, locate the fraudulent company.
- Click the ‘Delink’ option next to it.
4. Authenticate with OTP
- An OTP (One-Time Password) will be sent to your Aadhaar-linked mobile number.
- Enter the OTP to complete the delinking process.
5. Verify Removal
- The delinked company information will not anymore be seen by the service history data when the delinking process is complete.
Important Notes
- In case an employee genuinely works for the two companies and both have paid EPF amounts, it will be impossible to delink. The system will produce an error message.
- Besides, the OTP (One-Time Password) should be still active on your Aadhaar-linked mobile number if you want to delink properly. Moreover, the records of the company should be consistent.
The new 'Delink' option by EPFO is a very important step that should prevent the fraud and thus protect the employees from the misuse of their PF accounts by cyber criminals. Employees must make a habit to examine their PF service history periodically to prevent this type of activity.
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