The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised banks to exercise due caution and to be extra vigilant while opening or allowing transactions in remittances.
“It is clarified that any person resident in India collecting and effecting or remitting such payments directly or indirectly outside India would make himself or herself liable to be proceeded against with, for contravention of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 besides being liable for violation of regulations relating to know your customer (KYC) norms or anti money laundering (AML) standards,” the RBI said in a notification.
It has been brought to the notice of the RBI that fraudsters are seeking money from the gullible people, under different categories, such as, processing fees, transaction fees, tax clearance charges, conversion charges and clearing fees, said the RBI. The victims have also been persuaded to deposit the amount in accounts with banks in India, and such amounts have been withdrawn immediately.