Email claiming to be from RBI says you won a lottery or inherited money — pay a "crediting fee" first
An official-looking email with RBI branding claims you have won a lottery, received an inheritance, or been chosen for a 'Donation Program 2026.' Collecting the money requires paying an advance 'crediting fee' — the RBI runs no such scheme.
Also known as: RBI lottery email scam, fake RBI inheritance fund, RBI Donation Program 2026 scam, Reserve Bank compensation email fraud, advance fee fraud RBI
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 Delete the email — the RBI does not contact individuals about lottery wins, inheritances, or donation programmes
- 2 Do not pay any fee, however small, to 'release' or 'credit' the promised funds
- 3 Do not share Aadhaar, PAN, bank account number, or any OTP with the sender
- 4 Forward the suspicious email with full headers to [email protected] and report it as phishing to your email provider
- 5 Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).
Red flags
- ⚠ The RBI does not run lottery schemes, donation programmes, or inheritance disbursements — any such email is fraudulent
- ⚠ A 'crediting fee', 'processing fee', or 'transfer fee' is demanded before you can receive the money — real government payments never require advance fees
- ⚠ The sender address looks official (e.g. [email protected]) but is not from rbi.org.in
- ⚠ Extreme urgency: 'Your unclaimed funds will expire in 48 hours unless you respond and pay'
- ⚠ Requests your Aadhaar, PAN, or bank account details to 'process the transfer' — harvesting identity data
Sources
- PIB Fact Check — Fake RBI Lottery / Donation Program 2026 Email Warning (May 27, 2026)
- Business Standard — Did you get an RBI lottery or inheritance email? It's a scam, warns PIB
- Digit.in — RBI scam alert: fake donation and lottery emails could empty your bank account
- RBI — Cautions public against fictitious offers (standing advisory)
- NewsX — RBI Email Scam Alert: Free Money Offer, Fake Donation & Lottery Trap Exposed (June 2026)