We all know making online payments to a stranger makes us think, “ Am I sending the money to the right person?” or “Do these details belong to a fraudulent person?” etc. Hard-earned money can be lost in seconds with just a click of a button. Post demonetization, adoption of digital payment increased rapidly, so has the frauds associated with it.
A team lead with Paytm in the risk and fraud management division of the company’s Noida office said that they receive around 1,300 complaints every day. Extrapolate that to the entire year, and we are talking about close to half a million annual complaints — on Paytm alone. It is estimated that other UPI apps like PhonePe and Google Pay etc.also receive a similar number of stress calls due to fraudulent transactions. In addition, a sizable number of frauds do go unnoticed and unreported. This is an everyday story in digital payments. (Source: Livemint.com)
Let’s look at the top 5 things you should know and always consider before you make an online payment either via Paypal, Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, WU and the likes:
- Misleading UPI ID: Check the UPI ID format or phone number belonging to the same person asking for the money. For eg: In India, for the Prime Minister COVID fund, the original UPI ID was pmcares@sbi, however lots of scammers, fraudsters, created UPI ids like pmcare@sbi.
- Never Share Confidential Data: Time and again RBI and banks have made it sufficiently clear that they would never call their customers and request for data pertaining to PIN, OTP, and CVV. There are reasons why certain information is classified as confidential. Do not share these with anyone under any circumstances. Additionally, sufficient care should be ensured while sharing personal information like phone number, email address, UPI ID, etc. Using personal information there are chances that confidential information can be obtained.
- Check for Suspicious Signals: CheckForTrust.TrustCheckr.com and find any reports that have happened on this phone number and email address. Take relevant decisions seeing the dashboard
- Sanitize your Mobile Phone: Do not install random or unknown apps on your phone which might give unwanted access to the information on your phone, these will give fraudster access to sensitive information like phone PIN, Bank Account PIN etc
- Trust you Gut: Lastly, Trust your instinct and do not believe in stories that are too good to be true. Always be doubtful when sending money to strangers. With this mindset, you can be rest assured to prevent most of the scams and do not lose your hard-earned money. Also, do not send money to unknown people on OLX, Quikr or any classified websites who promise something in return for money
If you find any suspicion, report them at CheckForTrust.TrustCheckr.com and be a good samaritan and help the vulnerable people in society.
Together, we can WIN!