What are the red flags of this scam?

You found the insurer through a sponsored Google ad, not the insurer's own website • The agent quotes a premium noticeably lower than what the insurer's official site shows • Premium is collected into a personal bank account or a payment link, not the insurer's official payment portal • Policy document arrives by WhatsApp or personal email — legitimate insurers email from their corporate domain • Searching the policy number on the insurer's official website or VAHAN returns no record

What should I do if this happened to me?

Always buy motor insurance directly on the insurer's official website — open it by typing the URL, not from a search ad • Verify any policy on the government's VAHAN portal (vahan.nic.in) or the insurer's own 'verify policy' page before trusting it • Never pay a premium into an individual's bank account, Paytm, or a generic UPI ID — legitimate insurers have a named corporate payment gateway • If you already paid: contact your bank to dispute the transaction, file a complaint with IRDAI (1800-4254-732) and your state police • Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).

HIGH phishing Last reported: 13 Oct 2026 Share

A Google ad sells you motor insurance — the policy document is fake

Q: Is this a scam?

Yes. This is a documented scam pattern. Fraudsters run Google Ads impersonating real insurers. You click, pay the premium, and receive a convincing-looking policy PDF. The policy does not exist — you only find out when you try to claim or renew.

Fraudsters run Google Ads impersonating real insurers. You click, pay the premium, and receive a convincing-looking policy PDF. The policy does not exist — you only find out when you try to claim or renew.

Also known as: fake vehicle insurance scam, bogus motor insurance call centre, counterfeit insurance policy fraud, fake IRDAI insurance agent scam

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 Always buy motor insurance directly on the insurer's official website — open it by typing the URL, not from a search ad
2 Verify any policy on the government's VAHAN portal (vahan.nic.in) or the insurer's own 'verify policy' page before trusting it
3 Never pay a premium into an individual's bank account, Paytm, or a generic UPI ID — legitimate insurers have a named corporate payment gateway
4 If you already paid: contact your bank to dispute the transaction, file a complaint with IRDAI (1800-4254-732) and your state police
5 Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).

Red flags

⚠ You found the insurer through a sponsored Google ad, not the insurer's own website
⚠ The agent quotes a premium noticeably lower than what the insurer's official site shows
⚠ Premium is collected into a personal bank account or a payment link, not the insurer's official payment portal
⚠ Policy document arrives by WhatsApp or personal email — legitimate insurers email from their corporate domain
⚠ Searching the policy number on the insurer's official website or VAHAN returns no record

Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes

What to do right now

Red flags

Sources