How to protect yourself from Digital payments frauds

The widespread use of online bill payment methods and use of mobile based applications for quick payments has made life a lot easier. The ability to utilise mobile bill payment applications to transmit money, pay bills, recharge online, shop online, and make rapid bill payments at any local store has virtually eliminated the need for cash. While digital bill payment methods have been a huge help, fraudsters are always looking for new ways to scam you with bogus transactions.

Several mobile and e-wallet service providers in India are using the unified payments interface (UPI) designed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) with government assistance. Bajaj Finserv app, Paytm, Google Pay, Bharat Interface for Money application (BHIM), Amazon Pay, and PhonePe are among the most popular UPI-based bill payment app in India. Any user can use the UPI app to transmit (push) or request (pull) money using a virtual ID or payment address and password.

Here are a few things that classify as digital frauds and you should be careful about when dealing with digital bill payments.

• People can send you a payment request using the UPI’s ‘Request’ (pull) feature. Simply click the “pay” button and enter your UPI app’s personal identification number (PIN) to send money to another user. The issue is that fraudsters take advantage of this feature by making bogus payment requests that include messages like “Enter your UPI PIN to receive money,” “Payment successful receive Rsxxx,” and so on. Many people fall victim to this type of fraud and respond to these messages by entering their PIN, resulting in the loss of money from their UPI account.
• Fraudsters send you a QR code to scan in order to receive money via multimedia apps like WhatsApp. UPI, on the other hand, prohibits the creation and transmission of QR codes for the purpose of transmitting money. Only the QR code can be scanned to make a payment. As a result, never scan any QR code that claims you will receive money or cash from the sender.
• Fraudsters also keep watch of what users are commenting on the app’s original customer service handle of pages, including difficulties with cash-back, money transfers, and refunds, if any are available. The fraudsters respond quickly to such communications by sharing their phone number as a customer service or hotline number. Customers are then forced to phone an unlicensed helpline and provide sensitive information such as credit card and OTP numbers.
• Pretending to be legitimate representatives, fraudsters call users or approach them through social media. They instruct consumers to download screen-sharing programmes like Screenshare, Anydesk, or Teamviewer and hold their debit/credit card in front of the phone camera so that their “verification system” can scan the information. They urge the customer to provide a one-time passcode (OTP) SMS from their phone and transfer funds to their own account once they have the card data.
• When fraudsters utilise your personal information, such as your date of birth and location (obtained via social media sites), to dupe you into believing them, this is known as social engineering. They pose as bank customer service agents and ask for sensitive bank account/card information under the guise of keeping your account active or your card valid. They will then request the OTP in order to complete the transaction and top-up your own wallet with your banking information.

This being said, Digital bill payment apps are convenient and ensure speedy transactions from the comfort of your home. One needs to be judicious when dealing with digital bill payments. Steps like not giving out personal information like your card number, expiration date, PIN, or OTP to anyone. If someone posing as an official representative from your bank or a mobile app asks you for such information, ask them to send you an email without giving your email address (as the bank or app would already have your email ID with them). Also, only respond to emails from your bank’s or app’s official website.

One of the go-to bill payment apps is Bajaj Finserv. You can easily pay all your bills including your electricity bill, credit card bill, mobile recharge and more. The app gives you the comfort to choose from credit card, debit card, UPI, digital wallet and net banking. The app is available on both iOS and android stores.