PhonePe is based on government-backed Unified payments interface (UPI)-based App launched by e-commerce giant Flipkart, to provide a cashless and a seamless payment experience that protects any transaction from cybercriminals, keeping users financial information secure. Using PhonePe, users can send and receive money, recharge their mobile, DTH, data cards, make utility payments, buy gold, and even pay remotely for online purchases. In this article, you will get to know about various Phonepe frauds and how to file phonepe frauds complaint and if after reading full article, you still have any query you can contact TAX ADVISORY without any hesitation.

While digital payments are safe and convenient, it is important to be aware of different types of fraud and how fraudsters are constantly finding ways to dupe users of their hard-earned money. There are stories on fraudsters tricking users into sharing personal details such as bank account numbers, credit/debit card details, UPI PIN or OTP and transferring funds into their own accounts.

PhonePe Scams PhonePe is one of the popular UPI Applications that enables sending and receiving money from and to any bank account seamlessly with just an UPI ID. Below mentioned are the types of phonepe frauds and what you need to do to transact safely:

• Request Money Scam: Scamsters use fake links where ‘Request’ feature allows people to send you a payment request and user can send money to another user by just clicking on the ‘pay’ button and entering your personal identification number (PIN) for the UPI app where fraudsters misuse this feature by sending fake payment requests with messages like ‘Enter your UPI PIN to receive money, “Payment successful receive Rsxxx” and so on. Many people fall for such fraud and respond to these messages by entering their PIN, thus, losing money from their UPI account. 
• PhonePe Cashback/Refund Scam: This is an alteration of the Request Money scam where fraudsters contact users and present themselves as representatives from a payment app and make fool of users telling them that they are awarded with a cashback. Fraudsters then send payment requests to the user and ask them to click on ‘Pay’ and enter the UPI PIN. Any message asking you to enter your UPI PIN to receive cashback should be ignored.
• Sale listings on Quikr, OLX and other sites: The fraudster spots your product listing on OLX or a similar site and gives you a call saying that are interested in buying the product and tells you that they’ll make a money transfer using the PhonePe app. The fraudster will then ask you to open PhonePe app and send you a payment request for the same amount. They also put a message right above the ‘Pay’ button with instructions like ‘Once you pay, you will receive money’ which is a fraudulent message. You never need to click on the ‘Pay’ button or enter your UPI pin to receive money on PhonePe.

• Remote access/ Vishing: UPI has a four-digit PIN to authorise transactions. The simplicity of this procedure also makes it simple for fraudsters to transfer funds from your bank accounts to their accounts once they discover your PIN. One of the ways fraudsters can do this is by accessing your phone remotely using apps like Any Desk, TeamViewer. This way, the fraudster will be able to control the device and scam the person of his/her money.
• Social Engineering Fraud: Social engineering is when scammers use your personal details to trick you into trusting them and call you claiming to be customer support representatives from your bank. They use details you have shared on social media to gain trust and ask you to share sensitive bank account/card information and to provide the OTP to complete the transaction.
• Fraud via Fake Helpline Numbers: With the intention to scam innocent people, scammers publish fake helpline numbers for commonly searched consumer companies and when you make a call, they request payment before offering customer support. To avoid this, always check the authenticity of a website and never agree to pay for customer support upfront.
• SMS forwarding scam: This is a relatively elaborate scam in which the scammer will ask you to send an SMS from your phone in order to authenticate an order or to process a refund, etc

Guidelines to keep your phonepe payments Safe?

1. PhonePe never calls their users directly and asks for the confidential information. If you are asked for such details by anyone posing as a PhonePe representative, please ask them to send you an email. Only respond to emails from the @phonepe.com domain.
2. In most cases, scammers obtain your contact information from the social media sites where privacy settings are set to Public. That needs to be changed to prevent other scammers from accessing your details.
3. It is always important to keep in mind that we shall never share information such as OTP, UPI PIN or make payment to another person whom we do not know or trust.
4. In case you have been sent a fraudulent collect-call request, decline it and contact PhonePe support on the app.
5. Do not search for PhonePe customer support numbers on Google, Twitter, FB etc. The ONLY official way to reach PhonePe customer support is support.phonepe.com.
6. Never call/respond to unverified mobile numbers claiming to be PhonePe Support.
7. Never download third party apps like screen sharing apps which can access personal information that you enter on your screen.
8. Always remember not to scan a QR code to receive money on PhonePe.

How to file a phonepe frauds Complaint?

• You can register your complaint with PhonePe Customer Support by clicking on the icon on the home page of the PhonePe App.
• You can access any of the following channels to escalate Your concerns if they have not been satisfactorily resolved.
• Log in to https://support.phonepe.com with your registered PhonePe number and report your issue.
• Call our customer support centre on 080-68727374.
• If you are a PhonePe Wallet holder and your query or complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved at previous levels within 30 days, you can reach out to the digital ombudsman. For more details, please refer to the link - RBI Ombudsman.

Conclusion If you still have any query regarding how to make Phonepe frauds complaint or any online transaction fraud in India you can reach out to us without any hesitation. TAX ADVISORY is India’s leading legal service provider. The team tax advisory will give you proper guidance and helps you in overcoming, any fraudulent transaction made via Phonepe. You just need to contact us directly on 9193555055 or you can also logon to https://www.taxadvisory.in/