Bhubaneswar: Even as the digital payment via UPI is gaining traction across the country, the UPI frauds too are on the rise. The worrying fact is the UPI frauds are clocking at a great pace across the states.
The data with RBI shows UPI tansaction volume in India zoomed from 8.86bn in April 2023 to 15.04 bn in September end 2024. The value of UPI transactions now stood at Rs 20.64 lakh cr.
UPI FRAUDS PEAKING
As per the RBI data accessed, the number of UPI frauds in country in year 2022-23 was 7.25 lakhs and the value of amount stood at a massive Rs 587 cr.
The RBI data shows the volume of UPI frauds across the country have nearly doubled in 2023-24 to 13.42 lakhs and the value of amount siphoned via fraud also nearly doubled to Rs 1087 cr. Moreover, in the FY 2024-25 till September, the volume of UPI frauds was at 6.32 lakh and the value stood at 485 cr.
The nagging fact is in 2020-21 the volume of UPI was at mere 1.95 lakh and the value was mere Rs 111cr.
Though RBI has no state wise data on UPI transactions and frauds, a report by TrustCheckr claims that 41% of UPI frauds have been reported from eastern Indian states like West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar Assam and north eastern states.
A glance at the digital payment fraud data of RBI shows Odisha at 18th place in the country. The table is topped by Uttar Pradesh.
MODUS OPERANDI OF UPI FRAUD
As per Odisha police, the modus operandi of UPI fraudsters has been primarily of 3 types.
TYPE 1
- Fraudsters may call you on phone claiming to be a official of a tech company or bank and offering its service to fix issues in your smartphone or maobile banking apps.
- The fraudster will then implore upon you to download a mobile app like 'Any Desk' from Play store or App Store
- This will let him remote access to your mobile.
- After installation of the app (in this case 'Any Desk'), a 9-digit code will be generated, whichØ the fraudster will ask you to share.
- Then the fraudster will further ask you to grant him certain permissions. Once granted,Ø fraudster will take in control of your mobile device.
- After this they steal your mobile Banking credentials and PIN.
- With this the fraudster can now carry out financial transactions from your mobile app which was already installed.
TYPE 2
- In this type of UPI fraud, fraudsters will forward one SMS to you and advise you to forward it to a specific mobile number from your phone.
- On the basis of this, the fraudster is able to link / register your mobile number / account with UPI on his own mobile device.
- The fraudster will then seek confidential account related credentials like Debit Card number, PIN, expiry date, OTP and sets the MPIN which is then used to authenticate transactions.
TYPE 3
- There is a different approach adopted by fraudsters like sending "Collect request" to your VPA and ask you to approve / authenticate it on the respective UPI apps to get reversal / refunds.
- Assuming that you will get credit / refund in your account, you approve the request by authenticating the transaction with MPIN [which is only known to you]
- But you might end up losing money since your account gets debited once the collect request is approved / authenticated.
Here is the list of Dos and Don’ts
DOs
- Be alert to fraudulent calls (known as pishing) that ask you to download apps or share confidential information.
- Disconnect such calls immediately.
- In case you have already downloaded 'Any Desk' app and it is no longer required, uninstall it IMMEDIATELY.
- Please enable app-lock on your payment or mobile banking related apps.
- Report any suspicious activity to your nearest Bank Branch / genuine customer care number
DON’Ts
- Do not share your banking passwords or store them in your mobile handset.
- Do not share your other sensitive financial details on call such as UPI PIN / MPIN, Debit / Credit Card, CVV, expiry date, OTP, ATM PIN, bank account details, etc.
- Don't allow a stranger to guide you to install a mobile app through App Store / Play store
- Or instruct you to change a setting of your mobile.
- Do not rely on customer service numbers of various merchants / entities / banks etc. retrieved via Google search, since they can be fake.
- Do not forward any unsolicited SMS received on a request of so called representative from a tech company / bank
