A caller claims your old LIC or insurance policy has lapsed and offers a refund
A caller pretends to be from IRDAI, LIC, or your insurance company. They say a policy you forgot about has matured or lapsed, and a large refund of ₹3 lakh-₹10 lakh is waiting. To claim it, you must pay GST, processing fees, or "stamp duty" upfront.
Also known as: lapsed policy refund scam, IRDAI refund call, insurance maturity payout fraud
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
Call 1930 now- 1 Call 1930 — the national cyber-crime helpline — right now. The sooner you report, the better the chance of freezing the money before it moves.
- 2 Call your bank to freeze the account and block the card immediately. Use the number printed on your card, never a number from the message or caller.
- 3 File a report at cybercrime.gov.in and keep every message, screenshot, and transaction ID.
What to do right now
- 1 Hang up. IRDAI and the LIC central office never call you to release a refund. Real maturity payouts go to your registered bank account automatically
- 2 Look up your insurance company's official customer-care number on their website or your physical policy bond and call them directly to check
- 3 If you have already paid fees, stop paying. The 'last fee' never ends. Do not wire more money hoping to recover
- 4 Call your bank's fraud line to report the transactions and attempt a reversal
- 5 Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).
Red flags
- ⚠ Caller knows your name, an old address, and sometimes an old (real) policy number — bought from a data leak
- ⚠ Promised refund is large (₹3,00,000 to ₹10,00,000) and grows with each call
- ⚠ You are asked to pay GST, processing fee, stamp duty, or 'TDS unlock' before the refund is released
- ⚠ IRDAI never calls policyholders. They do not handle individual refunds — your insurer does
- ⚠ Each fee leads to another ('one more payment to release the funds') — the classic advance-fee pattern
This scam targets older adults disproportionately, often using data from real policy databases that have leaked over the years. The caller’s knowledge of your old policy makes them feel credible — but knowing your number is not the same as being from your insurer.
A real refund (whether from a matured policy, lapsed-policy surrender, or any other source) does not require you to pay fees in advance. Tax and stamp duty are deducted from the payout, not collected upfront. Any caller asking you to pay first to “unlock” a refund is running this scam.
If you have already paid: stop paying. Each new fee is the scam’s way of harvesting more. Call your bank’s fraud line, freeze your debit card, and file at cybercrime.gov.in and call 1930.
This scam targets older adults disproportionately, often using data from real policy databases that have leaked over the years. The caller’s knowledge of your old policy makes them feel credible — but knowing your number is not the same as being from your insurer.
A real refund (whether from a matured policy, lapsed-policy surrender, or any other source) does not require you to pay fees in advance. Tax and stamp duty are deducted from the payout, not collected upfront. Any caller asking you to pay first to “unlock” a refund is running this scam.
If you have already paid: stop paying. Each new fee is the scam’s way of harvesting more. Call your bank’s fraud line, freeze your debit card, and file at cybercrime.gov.in and call 1930.
Sources
- IRDAI — Beware of fraudsters
- PIB Fact Check — Fake IRDAI / LIC refund calls
- Indian Express — Lapsed-policy refund scam
- The420.in — Panchkula: four arrested in inter-state insurance policy scam (May 2026)
- The420.in — Bengaluru 61-year-old duped ₹31.78 lakh in fake insurance claim scheme
- The420.in — Noida fake insurance call centre busted, 13 arrested
- The420.in — Ahmedabad: senior citizen duped ₹47 lakh by fake NPCI and insurance officials
- The420.in — LIC refund bait, court case threat: elderly woman duped ₹47 lakh over four years