According to Indian government, nearly a million UPI frauds were reported last year
Almost all fraud cases have been reported in 2022 as India ramps up digital payments through the Unified Payment Interface, or UPI. According to the data released by the Finance Ministry, more than 95,000 people have been victimized by scammers and they managed to force the victim to send them money through various UPI apps like Paytm, Google Pay, PhonePe and others. Most of these cases are caused by people carelessly sharing personal information with an attacker or even accidentally sending money instead of receiving it in their account. Here are some of the top hacks that helped fraudsters trick you into making fraudulent UPI payments.
Top Reasons for UPI Payment Scam in India
UPI PIN Fraud
One of the most common cases of UPI fraud occurs because the victim ends up sharing the UPI PIN through a QR code that the attacker shares with them. For example, a scammer shares his QR code with you and asks you to receive a payment through him. Instead, the victim is unknowingly tricked into sending money to the attacker with their PIN code. This method has been the subject of scams for some time now, forcing platforms like Paytm to include a pop-up warning box saying that you are sending money to another person.
Wrong customer service call
Yes, this is another major modus operandi for UPI fraud cases as mentioned in the TOI report. The police said in a report that people end up searching for customer service numbers on Google and fall prey to scammers who manage to get personal information such as bank account number, CVV number and other details. Using this information, the scammers can then transfer the money to their account, which the victim only finds out about when the amount has been debited from their account and they receive a text message about it. Scams can be done through bogus travel agencies that book flight/train tickets or even book a hotel room with a down payment.
Share your UPI PIN with people
Over the years, people have been warned not to share their ATM PIN with anyone or write it down anywhere. Similarly, you are requested to avoid sharing UPI PIN with strangers. The key to accessing your bank account through UPI apps is the UPI PIN, and if someone gets that number, they can easily withdraw money from your account, which seems to happen quite often.
Use public Wi-Fi for payments
Another big concern when making online payments is using public Wi-Fi networks. Most of them are usually free, which attracts millions of smartphone users. But free definitely comes at a price, including losing money from your bank account. Agencies and experts warn you to avoid making payments when using these Wi-Fi networks.
UPI PIN is not changed frequently
Again, like changing your ATM PIN, experts also recommend changing your UPI PIN, which can help you avoid falling victim to these scams.
Sending money to the wrong person
The last but not the least reason is that the victim sends money to the wrong person. A TOI report quoting the police said people usually send money without checking if the person asking for the money is real. Such cases happen when a scammer pretends to be someone you know and sends you messages like WhatsApp or Instagram to ask for money. If this happens to you and they share a payment QR code, never send money to these accounts.
