Seeking Help I nearly escaped a UPI scam

[sujitnair30]

Dear bros,
I am an active member of this forum since 2013 and am aware of the various kinds of scams too but day before yesterday night I recharged my airtel no. with amazon pay and unfortunately the amount got debited and my plan didn't get recharge..I wrote this issue to Airtel through Twitter stating my mobile no.(My first mistake). The next day early morning I got a call saying he's from Airtel Customer Care and he asked me of I want a refund or do I want to use the debited Money for recharging the plan. I told him to obviously recharge it..After a halt he told me it's not possible to recharge and he would refund it to my number. He asked me to send a sms "which is a upi verification code"(upi47292tisjf79) something like that to 9233xxxxx which was my second mistake. "Even I'm very aware of these codes and all I just sent it as I was half asleep till then, I didn't know what stupidity I was doing as I quickly wanted to resolve this issue asap". Within a minute I got a message from Andhra Bank saying that the UPI registration with the account no. xxxx has started to which I instantly understood that this is a complete scam..I immediately disconnected the call and started sending the complete amount i.e Rs 47000 to my other bank using UPI when I saw that my UPI Pin is incorrect.. Thankfully I instantly added the whole amount to my paytm wallet by card directly..I also got a link from that no. which was some Zoho Forms..I didn't click that..Then I did reset of my upi and changed it..Afterwards I called the bank and asked them to freeze the account completely..Now I've a question that when I'll unfreeze it.. would I be assigned a new account no. and my exact same platinum debit card? Also should I create a upi with this no. ever again in my life? I also did a factory reset of my phone as I read somewhere that scammers might also put scripts and all.. I'm still in a state of shock as I was just seconds away from going to nil.. Thanks to god!

 

[TJ_DJ]

He asked me to send a sms "which is a upi verification code"(upi47292tisjf79) something like that to 9233xxxxx which was my second mistake.

Never ever 'send' or 'forward' any message to any unknown number. These UPI scamsters are just taking advantage of people not knowing the full technical details about it.

 

[Puns2019]

Never ever 'send' or 'forward' any message to any unknown number. These UPI scamsters are just taking advantage of people not knowing the full technical details about it.

Bro even though now OTP is introduced for any transactions we do online and the OTP is sent to registered number, i have seen that some scmasters are using credit cards and processing fraudulent transactions even without OTP . How is that possible?

 

[sujitnair30]

Never ever 'send' or 'forward' any message to any unknown number. These UPI scamsters are just taking advantage of people not knowing the full technical details about it.

Exactly bro! I still feel very stupid that how I believed him very easily..

 

[Optimus_Prime]

Few general steps always taken care of :
1. Never share Your Contact number on public platform /forum. (If it require then use DM service )
2. Never share OTP ,PIN , PASSWORD (everyone knows that but still they don't follow ) to any one.
3. Never use your Bank ID everywhere to create UPI /Wallet so that you can get some cashback when you use their service. One or two (phonepe/gpay)is acceptable
4. Never visit suspected website or click on any suspicious link.
5. Never use not so needed app on your phone. Try to install app from play store or app store , and should not use any modded apk. Use trusted source only for apk (XDA forum)
6. Don't use cracked or keygen for popular apps rather than use alternate free version app(instead of cracked IDM we can use EagleGet /XDM downloader as alternate )
7. Try to update software regularly.
8. Change regularly password and pin.
9. Never keep all lumpsome money in one bank account use that account everywhere. Rather than use another account with less money for online transaction.

And now specific to your query .
If not required , don't make UPI with that bank account no . again. For transaction use Internet Banking or Debit card .
U can apply for new debit card , u will get a new card definitely.
U can unfreeze your account but before that change your INB credential (if have) and stop UPI service (if not already ).

 

[Harsh_10]

One or two (phonepe/gpay)is acceptable

Bank's own UPI is more preferable.

 

[Sivabhaskar]

Exactly bro! I still feel very stupid that how I believed him very easily..

Please don't feel bad. We all believe scamsters on some stupid point in time. Truth is, we wouldn't believe them, for example, on June 16 or June 18, but we might still somehow end up believing them on a day in-between, on that fateful June 17.

It happens even to the best of us. All we can do is stay as vigilant as possible. And it was great that you did not end up losing money. Thankfully, you identified midway that it was a scam, and took immediate measures to stop your money from being stolen. You just lost some pride, and had a bad experience overall. Just a bad wake up call

Thanks for sharing your experience here. Most of us would not want anyone to know that we were almost scammed.

My suggestion:
Instead of using phone banking, go to your bank branch in person and explain them in detail what happened. They will clearly understand you, as they would have seen more than a few customers who were scammed like this. And they would probably let you know all the things you might want to change related to your bank account, like Debit Card, UPI Id, Bank Account Number, Internet Banking Login Id and Password, et cetera.

 

[sujitnair30]

Few general steps always taken care of :
1. Never share Your Contact number on public platform /forum. (If it require then use DM service )
2. Never share OTP ,PIN , PASSWORD (everyone knows that but still they don't follow ) to any one.
3. Never use your Bank ID everywhere to create UPI /Wallet so that you can get some cashback when you use their service. One or two (phonepe/gpay)is acceptable
4. Never visit suspected website or click on any suspicious link.
5. Never use not so needed app on your phone. Try to install app from play store or app store , and should not use any modded apk. Use trusted source only for apk (XDA forum)
6. Don't use cracked or keygen for popular apps rather than use alternate free version app(instead of cracked IDM we can use EagleGet /XDM downloader as alternate )
7. Try to update software regularly.
8. Change regularly password and pin.
9. Never keep all lumpsome money in one bank account use that account everywhere. Rather than use another account with less money for online transaction.

And now specific to your query .
If not required , don't make UPI with that bank account no . again. For transaction use Internet Banking or Debit card .
U can apply for new debit card , u will get a new card definitely.
U can unfreeze your account but before that change your INB credential (if have) and stop UPI service (if not already ).

Thanks a lot bro for your advice! I read somewhere that the bank issues a new debit card once they'll unfreeze the account is that true? And would it be a good option if I change the current registered mobile no. so that I've no link with the old no. whatsoever?

 

[sujitnair30]

Please don't feel bad. We all believe scamsters on some stupid point in time. Truth is, we wouldn't believe them, for example, on June 16 or June 18, but we might still somehow end up believing them on a day in-between, on that fateful June 17.

It happens even to the best of us. All we can do is stay as vigilant as possible. And it was great that you did not end up losing money. Thankfully, you identified midway that it was a scam, and took immediate measures to stop your money from being stolen. You just lost some pride, and had a bad experience overall. Just a bad wake up call

Thanks for sharing your experience here. Most of us would not want anyone to know that we were almost scammed.

My suggestion:
Instead of using phone banking, go to your bank branch in person and explain them in detail what happened. They will clearly understand you, as they would have seen more than a few customers who were scammed like this. And they would probably let you know all the things you might want to change related to your bank account, like Debit Card, UPI Id, Bank Account Number, Internet Banking Login Id and Password, et cetera.

Exactly brother, Till now I used to advice my parents and my friends about these scams and all I used to think that I would never get into a situation like this! I guess this was a caution signal from the god itself to make me realise..I whole heartedly want to thank you brother for understanding my concern and which is why I'm connected to all of you from the past 7 years and on! Thanks

 

[Sivabhaskar]

Bro even though now OTP is introduced for any transactions we do online and the OTP is sent to registered number, i have seen that some scmasters are using credit cards and processing fraudulent transactions even without OTP . How is that possible?

I guess it has to do with the fact that most of our cards (be it Debit Card, or even a Credit Card) are enabled for "International Transactions". Thing is, whenever we do online transactions on a non Indian website, we DO NOT receive any OTP for that transaction. This is what internet fraudsters take advantage of.

Most of the banks today have an option in their Internet Banking Website to:

1) Completely turn OFF International Transactions for our Debit Card / Account.

2) Keep it ON, but set a limit for International Transactions. Like 2000 or 4000 Rupees per day.

Personally, I have it turned OFF for my bank account. I turn it ON only when I am about to make a transaction on an International Website. Then I turn it OFF again, immediately after the transaction.