I got a call from people claiming to be from Max Life Insurance. They talked about a product recently launched where in you can invest up-till 1 lac’s Rs which falls under section 80 CC. On the phone they further claimed that in case you make a one time investment of 30000, you get monthly returns of 932 per month credited to your bank account for next 10 years and also medical cover of 5 lac’s for the entire duration for yourself and your immediate family members. In addition to that a term benefit of 1.5 lac’s in case of any unfortunate occurrence to primary policy holder. They also mentioned that the cheque needs to be given in name of "Club Max" which is associated with Max Life Insurance. Looked interesting, and they told that its a 1 day offer and done randomly hence this product is not listed on Max Life Insurance site for verifying further details.
Although I doubted the high rate of returns which was far greater than 9% given by most bank FD’s, believing it to be from a trusted insurance firm like Max Life, I went ahead with processing the formalities.
When their sales man arrived to take the take signatures on the form, collect requisite doc’s and cheque, I noticed that on all the docs where they had taken my signatures were xerox copies and not on originals like that is usually done. The first couple of pages showed that Max Life and last few pages "Club Max".
After the sales person left, I decided to re-verify. I checked online and saw this is a fraud at couple of sites including this one. Next I called up Max Life Insurance toll free number and inquired about "Club Max" scheme/product or affiliated firms. They replied in negative about any such product or firm by name "Club Max". Sensing this to be a fraud, Immediately cancelled the cheque and saved myself from being scammed.
Thank God. Got fooled but was saved at last moment. An important lesson learnt - Not all phones/email related to loan/insurance/policies may be genuine. Before investigating your hard earned money, do double/triple check online or offline if any such product exists. Don’t buy blindly.