Ayushman Health Card Enrolment Scam over the phone

How it looks over the phone, the red flags and what to do.

Callers pretend to be bank staff, police, a courier, a telecom officer or a relative, and they try to keep you on the line while you act. Ayushman Health Card Enrolment Scam is one of the ways this shows up: Someone offers to make your Ayushman or free-treatment health card for a fee or an OTP. See how fake camps and agents collect money and documents.

What ayushman health card enrolment scam looks like over the phone

• Being told to stay on the line and not to tell your family.
• Instructions to install a screen-sharing app or to press keys on the phone.
• A second "senior officer" who takes over the call.

The agent sets up a table in a market or sends a flyer saying that enrolment closes soon. He uses the name of a known scheme and a printed card with a logo. People are asked for each family member's Aadhaar copy, a phone number and a fee for 'printing and registration', which sounds small compared with hospital costs.

Red flags to check on the phone call

• A fee to make a government health card.
• An OTP requested over the phone to finish an eKYC.
• Documents of the whole family collected by an unofficial camp.
• A flyer or page with no official portal or scheme office address.
• You are asked to move money to a "safe account".
• You are told to keep the call secret.

What to do

1. Do not pay or share an OTP. Check eligibility only on the official scheme portal or helpline listed on the government site.
2. Visit the nearest government hospital help desk or common service centre to ask.
3. Avoid handing Aadhaar copies to unofficial camps.
4. Hang up. A real bank or office will not mind that you call them back.
5. Call the bank or office on the number printed on your card, bill or official app, not on a number the caller gave.
6. Never share an OTP or PIN. No genuine staff member needs it.

Report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility). If money moved, call 1930 immediately.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Report any payment to 1930 and at cybercrime.gov.in.
2. Lock your Aadhaar biometrics on the official service and watch for new SIM cards or loans.
3. Call your bank on the number on your card if you shared card or bank details.
4. Write down the name, date and place where documents were handed in and tell the police.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio's scam check can read a pasted message and point out the fee, the OTP request and the false deadline, and the link check can warn about a lookalike registration page. Money Shield gives a short checklist before sending any fee. It cannot tell you whether you are eligible for a scheme or whether a printed card is valid, which must be confirmed at the official hospital desk or portal.

Full guide: Ayushman Health Card Enrolment Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: WhatsApp, SMS, social media.

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