UPI has emerged as the most popular method of transaction in India. With its popularity, its misuse has also seen a surge.
Rise of UPI Overpayment Scam
There has been an alarming increase in the UPI fraud cases and this is fuelled by the perpetrators observing a substantial increase in the digital payment transactions.
As per the report by Reserve Bank of India, there has been almost 4-fold increase in the number of cases from previous fiscal year’s 9,046 to this year 36,075.
Notably, despite this surge, the overall monetary value associated with these frauds decreased from Rs 45,358 crore to Rs 13,930 crore.
Of all the scams, the one that is prevalent and you should be aware about is the ‘UPI overpayment scam’. The modus operandi typically involve a fraudster claiming to have mistakenly transferring a small sum of money to a victim’s UPI account. Post this, the intentional transfer is claimed to be unintentional and the scammers contacts the victim and then urge them to refund the funds. The catch being that they request them to send back a larger amount than initially received.
For example, the fraud would send Rs 200.00 as Rs 20,000 and ask to reimburse Rs 20,000. This is also one of the reasons why scamsters do not give you any time to react to such scams.
Importance of Caution, Vigilance, and Reporting
These scams are executed and thrive on haste and inattention.
Victims, sometimes in time crunch or sometimes in lack of attention, miss out on crucial details.
Hence, when it comes to such things it is advisable to exercise caution and and verify any unexpected requests before taking action. Also, in case something seems fishy and raises suspicion, immediately report the incident to your bank, the UPI app provider, and relevant authorities.
CEO of Freo, Kunal Varma gave an instance wherein the users fell victim to such a scam. The user received a small sum in their UPI account from an unknown source, followed by a convincing call requesting its return. However, this time around the user sough guidance from the payment app’s customer support and later found out that the call was fraudulent.
In order to safeguard oneself against these UPI scams, it is imperative that one always scrutinizes payment requests, verify sender details, and refrain from succumbing to pressure.
In addition to this, there is also a need to improve the data protection laws and also enhance the communication between institutions could bolster security measures and mitigate risks associated with digital transactions.
