UPI Fraud Alert: ICICI Bank Issues UPI Warning For All Customers, Follow These Rules To Protect Your Money

Given the increasing number of UPI based frauds, ICICI bank has issued a few guidelines for their customers, especially while transacting through UPI based apps. 

If you are someone who relies heavily on the UPI based transactions, here are some precautions you must take care to follow:

• Fraudsters often pose as banks’ customer care representatives and call you up. Do not entertain any such calls from unknown people. 
• If anyone calls you and asks you to share your debit and credit card details, or even bank details, do not share such information with them, even if they claim to be from a bank or any service. Directly disconnect the call and if possible, report it or mark it as scam. 
• Never share any One Time Passwords (OTP) with anyone. These can be misused to siphon money from your account by fraudsters in multiple ways. One of the said ways is by creating fake IDs for fake transactions.
• These scamsters might ask you to share your bank details and create a new Virtual Payment Address ID (VPI ID) for your account. They will also ask you to set MPIN for online transactions. Do not share any information under any circumstances. 
• Do not click on any link that you might receive via any SMS or any other messaging platform, especially if you receive such texts from unknown people. They might be a medium for the fraudster to hack into your phone, steal your sensitive data and your money as well. 
• Always remember that OTPs are generated only when you try to withdraw money from your bank account. Hence, if someone calls you asking for an OTP for a mistaken transaction, do not entertain such calls and do not share your OTP. fraudsters ask for the OTP, and when you share it with them, you approve the transaction which the fraudsters have initiated, thus falling victim to their scam. 
• If someone calls and says that they transferred money into your account and ask for OTP, do not share it with them. You will never get an OTP if someone else’s money is added or transferred into your account. 
• There are many UPI apps available now to make your transactions easier, such as Paytm, Google Pay, BHIM. However, they make it easy for fraudsters to loot your hard-earned money as well. Hence, be sure to be very careful while carrying out transactions through these apps. 
• Make sure to set up your UPI account on your own and not to rely for help on anyone else. 
• While using such apps, if you get a request for money via SMS, read the message carefully. Fraudsters, instead of transferring money go for the ‘Request Money’ option and loot your account.