How to Verify UPI Payment Requests Before You Tap Pay

Receiving an unexpected notification on your phone asking you to approve a payment can be confusing. Many people assume these prompts are for receiving money, but on UPI, these notifications are almost always requests for you to pay someone else.

The Golden Rule: Only Enter Your PIN to Send Money

If you are receiving money from a friend, a client, or a marketplace buyer, you never need to enter your UPI PIN. The PIN is your digital signature that authorizes money to leave your account. If an app or a person asks you to 'enter your PIN to receive money,' stop immediately. This is the most common sign of a fraudulent request.

Check the Sender's Details

Before you look at the 'Pay' button, examine the request notification closely. Scammers often use names that sound official, like 'Refund-Department' or 'Customer-Support-UPI'. However, if you check the underlying VPA (Virtual Payment Address or UPI ID), it will usually look like a random string of characters or a personal Gmail-based ID rather than a verified business handle.

If you receive a request from an unknown person claiming to be from a company you recently interacted with, do not trust the notification. Close your UPI app, navigate to the official website or app of that company, and check your order or refund status there. If there is no record of a pending transaction, the request is a scam.

Be Wary of 'Scan and Pay' Links

Sometimes, fraudsters send a QR code via WhatsApp or email, claiming it is for a payment you are owed. Scanning a QR code from an untrusted source is equivalent to clicking a suspicious link. By scanning it, you might be granting the fraudster permission to initiate a transaction from your account. Only scan QR codes when you are physically present at a merchant's shop or when you are initiating the payment yourself on a trusted platform.

What to Do If You've Been Targeted

If you have already shared your PIN or suspect you have fallen for a scam, act quickly:

1. Block your UPI ID: Immediately contact your bank's customer support to freeze your UPI services.
2. Change your UPI PIN: As a precaution, reset your PIN through your banking app.
3. Report the incident: Call the national cybercrime helpline at 1930 or file a complaint on the official cybercrime portal at cybercrime.gov.in. Keeping a record of the transaction ID and screenshots of the fraudulent request will help the authorities investigate.

Remember, official support teams will never ask for your UPI PIN, remote access to your device, or for you to click on 'collect' requests to receive a refund.