Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has made life easy by making online payments hassle free. The flip side, however, is the emergence of UPI frauds, said Prakasam superintendent of police (SP) Malika Garg, highlighting the surge in incidents of fraud in transactions using UPI.
‘’As payments using UPI increase, so do cases of fraud,’‘ she observed after a review of cybercrimes in the district. She suggested that people always double check the identity of the payee before making a digital payment. They should remember that banks will never ask for any confidential information such as details of bank account, credit/debit card numbers, CVV, UPI PIN, OTP over a call or message. One need not enter the UPI PIN while receiving money. Fraudsters misused the ‘request money’ feature on payment apps, she explained.
Scammers also created counterfeit UPI apps that look similar to the authentic ones. ‘‘While downloading the app from the Play Store or App Store, you have to be very careful. Counterfeit apps can steal all your personal data ... Once the fraudsters gain access to your sensitive data, they can transfer funds from your account, blackmail you or use the data for illegal purposes,” she said. Any aggrieved person can lodge their complaints by dialling 1930 or by visiting www.cybercrime.gov.in.
With online shopping becoming the order of the day, she noted that shoppers used multiple payment apps to gain maximum benefits. Nonetheless, using multiple payment apps increased the risk of getting scammed. From the plethora of UPI-backed apps like GPay, PhonePe, Paytm, BHIM, MobiKwik, etc., people should select one or two for doing transactions.
She said that one should always lock the mobile phone and set a strong password to prevent scammers from guessing it. It is better to change the password at least once a month, she added.
