The government has cautioned railway pensioners to be wary of scammers who are contacting them with false claims of updating pension payment orders (PPOs) or service records. The Railways Ministry highlighted that cyber fraudsters are posing as Railway officials through phone calls and messages, asking for personal and financial details under the guise of PPO updates and KYC verification. It emphasized that Railways never send messages or links for updating PPO or service records, and no official is authorized to request bank details, OTPs, passwords, or confidential information via calls, SMS, WhatsApp, or social media.
Pensioners are urged to stay alert and educate their family members about these fraudulent attempts. Any suspicious communication should be promptly reported to the Police Cyber Cell and the relevant administrative office. Additionally, the implementation of Aadhaar-based authentication, multi-layer cybersecurity, and anti-fraud measures has led to the deactivation of 3.03 crore suspicious user IDs in train ticket bookings in 2025, ensuring a smooth booking experience for genuine users.
Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw disclosed that a substantial amount of 60.43 billion (6,043 crore) on malicious bot requests was blocked in the last six months of 2025, safeguarding the integrity of the e-ticketing system. Notably, there have been 376 complaints filed on the National Cyber Crime Portal concerning 3.99 lakh suspicious bookings, along with the blocking of 12,819 suspicious email domains in 2025. To prevent misuse and enhance fairness in Tatkal bookings, an Aadhaar-based one-time password (OTP) verification system has been introduced for online Tatkal ticket reservations, ensuring quick verification of user uniqueness crucial for the time-sensitive Tatkal booking process.
Furthermore, various security measures have been put in place to address OWASP application security vulnerabilities. Indian Railways has also adopted a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to enhance system performance by offloading static content and reducing direct traffic on the internet ticket booking website system.
