Hyderabad: In a new online scam that has surfaced in the city, scammers are exploiting the convenience of online payments by sticking their own UPI QR codes over those of legitimate vendors. This tactic, if unnoticed by the vendor, will cause unsuspecting customers to send money directly to the fraudsters instead of the intended business.
The method is simple and effective. Scammers print their QR codes and paste them over a vendor's original code, often in busy marketplaces where the chances of detection are slim. Quite a few cases have surfaced in Hyderabad recently.
Talking to Deccan Chronicle, K. Ramesh, a fritters seller in Secunderabad’s Padmaraonagar, said, "Most of my customers pay me online through UPI. One day, around 7-8 payments were made, but I did not receive the money. I contacted the bank, they said there was no payment made at all. Then I found a different QR code stuck over mine. I was shocked, and immediately tore off the QR code,” he said.
Another seller from Sithaphalmandi said he had contacted the UPI provider immediately, and his customer, who made the payment, got the refund. Customers can also file a complaint with the National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) if their issue is not resolved with the UPI provider’s customer care office.
