India’s growing acceptance of online payments has also led to an increase in digital payment frauds. This can be remedied by raising user awareness and education about staying safe, informed and vigilant while using digital payments to prevent misuse by bad actors.
To spread awareness about online safety, including educating users to exercise caution while making digital payments, Meta-owned WhatsApp has launched a week-long user-safety campaign called #TakeCharge.
According to the instant messaging and voice-over-IP service, UPI continues to remain one of the safest, convenient and interoperable modes of making payments.
However, WhatsApp has warned that there are some common frauds that citizens should be aware of.
Phishing Scams: These are online scams in the form of email or text messages and appear to be from well-known sources such as UPI providers, banks, and e-wallet providers, requesting personal information.
Fake Customer Care Frauds: Usually done over a phone call or through voice messages, such fake customer care numbers of UPI apps request information such as an OTP or a UPI pin, pretending to solve an issue.
Collect Request Frauds and QR Code-Related Scams: “Collect request” links lure users with cashback or lottery wins with just a click, resulting in money being deducted from the user’s account, instead of them receiving money. Scammers convince users to accept the collect request and enter the UPI PIN, to receive money. They might sometimes also ask users to scan QR codes to receive money.
UPI ID Spoofing: Scammers create deceptive UPI handles by changing a few letters in UPI IDs of legitimate businesses with the aim of diverting money to themselves. Users should be vigilant and must thoroughly review a UPI ID before initiating any transaction.
Abhijit Bose, head of India, WhatsApp, said, “UPI has been an unquestioned success and we believe that ‘payments on WhatsApp’ can be a key partner to NPCI and RBI as we collectively aim to scale adoption of UPI and financial inclusion of the “next five hundred million” Indians.”
As per WhatsApp, here are some of the best practices for citizens to safeguard against frauds while making digital payments.
1. Never share personal details such as account number, login ID, password, UPI-PIN, OTP, ATM pin, debit card or credit card details with anyone, including bank officials, however genuine they might sound.
2. Enter UPI PIN only to deduct money from your account. UPI PIN is not required for receiving money.
3. Do not scan a QR code to receive money. In UPI you only scan a QR code for making payments.
4. Check the receiver’s name on verifying the UPI ID. Do not make payments without verification.
5. Check URLs and domain names for spelling errors. Use only verified, secured, and trusted websites starting with ‘’https’’ and apps for making digital transactions. In case of suspicion, notify local police and the cybercrime branch immediately.
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