The Pension and Disability Insurance Fund of Serbia has issued a warning to retirees regarding a rise in fraudulent schemes conducted through social media.

These scams involve fake profiles misrepresenting themselves as official accounts of the Fund, soliciting personal information from pensioners under the guise of offering doubled pension payments.

According to Jelica Timotijević, the Director of the Public Relations Sector at the Fund, the fraudulent profiles have utilized the Fund's logo, presenting an appearance that closely resembles official communications.

Timotijević emphasized that such scams can mislead users into believing they are receiving legitimate messages from the Fund.

Pensioners have been targeted with requests to provide their full names, the last four digits of their mobile numbers, and bank account details.

The Fund has reiterated that it does not request personal information via social media, as it already possesses these data in its database.

Reports of these scams have been most prevalent in cities such as Belgrade, Senta, Subotica, and Niš.

Despite many pensioners recognizing the fraudulent nature of these attempts, at least one confirmed incident involved a woman who provided her details and subsequently had funds withdrawn from her account on the same day.

Timotijević clarified that the Fund never communicates with beneficiaries in this manner.

She noted that the official social media accounts of the Fund, found on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, use the Cyrillic script for communication, while the fraudulent accounts employ Latin script.

The Fund strives to provide alerts and important information through these channels without soliciting personal data or issuing giveaways.

In response to the ongoing issue, the Fund has contacted Facebook administrators to request the removal of the false profile utilizing its name and logo.

As of now, several days after the complaint was filed, the fraudulent account remains active.

Due to the lack of action on the account's removal, the Fund has continued to issue advisories to its users via its official website and various social media outlets, as well as through media announcements.

Timotijević has stated that the Fund's primary means of reaching its audience is through the media, with an aim to alert and caution pensioners against providing personal information.

Affected pensioners have been advised to report these scams to the Ministry of the Interior, as the acts constitute a criminal offense.