In response to our article – My ordeal with Aadhaar fingerprint fraud & how I got my money back – we received the following email from a reader who wants to share this with the community for awareness and the difficulty involved in investigating this Aadhaar-based fraud.
Are you a victim of similar fraud? What did you do? Share your story with the freefincal community and promote awareness. All stories will be published anonymously. Send your story to letters [AT] freefincal.com or freefincal [AT] gmail.com. This is the archive of such reader experiences.
My expanded name is Ka****ya Ra***har Sh****ram, but being a South Indian, my name as per school, college, and all other Govt records are abbreviated and spelt as K R Sh****ram.
I was earlier residing with my father at his home address, but after building my own home, I shifted to the new address. My AADHAAR was issued in 2012, bearing my new address with my photo and my name as the son of my father’s name. The card was delivered to my new address. The QR code reveals these details. I have locked my biometrics.
Surprisingly, in late 2023, I was informed by the caretaker of my late father’s home that my AADHAAR card had been received by post and handed over to me. An Indian resident can have only one AADHAAR. The card received was a fake. It was in the name K R Sh****ram, care of my father’s name and his address (my old address), but the photo was different. The QR code was unreadable. The phone number was different, and the card bore an issue date of 2015. No stranger came to collect this card. I checked the UIDAI website and found that the card has been verified and registered.
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Two other family members (former residents at my late father’s home and now moved out) also received similar fake AADHAAR cards. I suspect the fake cards will likely be used for property crimes.
I have both my genuine and fake AADHAAR cards in my possession. I mailed a complaint to UIDAI, attaching copies of both cards and requesting cancellation of the fake card, as it could be misused. I pointed out that it was a crime on UIDAI and me. Indian Govt cancels fake passports with punishment on identification, so I offered to meet the service centre UIDAI officer and present both cards for action.
The ticket was closed, stating that I needed to contact Law Enforcement. In short, UIDAI washed its hands off. Getting the police to investigate this is a challenge, and even if they agree, it will not be easy. How can we protect ourselves from such fraud?
Hopefully, UIDAI will mull over it, accept that it is a crime against the system, and act to prevent it. UIDAI should insist that applicants state the father’s name with proof, and the AADHAAR card must include this on the card, particularly if it is a care-of address.
Read more from the archive:
- How I became a victim of identity theft and loan fraud
- How I struggled to change mutual fund unitholder status after a death in the family
- How Ashal & Banking Ombudsman helped get my money back from a failed credit card payment