{"id":4407,"date":"2023-03-16T06:44:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-16T06:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wibmo.com\/upi-fraud-trends-and-their-possible-mitigation\/"},"modified":"2024-06-04T05:57:50","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T05:57:50","slug":"upi-fraud-trends-and-their-possible-mitigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wibmo.com\/blogs\/upi-fraud-trends-and-their-possible-mitigation\/","title":{"rendered":"UPI Fraud Trends and Their Possible Mitigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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With over 2 billion transactions worth over INR 4.5 trillion processed every month, India\u2019s United Payment Interface (UPI) has revolutionized the digital payment ecosystem. UPI has been emerging as the most preferred payment method among Indians.<\/p>\n

However, at the same time, we are witnessing a rise in fraudulent transactions in recent times. A total of 1,46,495 unified payments interface (UPI) fraudulent activities were reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) during the first and second quarters of 2022, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).<\/p>\n

Up until now, banks and financial institutions have predominantly relied on educating consumers against fraud. But, in cases of fraud, the consumer is at the mercy of the grievance process, which adversely affects the consumer experience and dents customer loyalty.<\/p>\n

Fraud Trends and Their Possible Mitigation<\/p>\n\n

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  1. Impersonating Sellers and Customer Care\n\nIt is more of a habit to google customer care contacts when facing issues with our online purchases. Fraudsters are flooding the internet with fake customer care details to lure in consumers. After gaining the trust of gullible customers over the phone, refund collect requests are shared via QR codes, SMS links, and so on.\n\nFinancial institutions can integrate with\u00a0technological solutions<\/a>\u00a0that detect and alert the customer in the event that a payment is made over the phone.<\/li>\n \t
  2. Spoofed VPA IDs\n\nIn the name of disaster relief or support, fraudsters created multiple spoofed VPA IDs that are remarkably similar to the original ones. In recent times, we witnessed an unprecedented rise in VPA IDs, similar to the PM Cares Fund.\n\nMaintaining a list of suspicious keywords such as support, relief, care, disaster, army, minister,\u201d etc. and running risk rules over transactions being made to VPA IDs containing high-risk keywords have the potential to curb fraudulent transactions.<\/li>\n \t
  3. Screen mirroring apps and malware\n\nThrough malicious links, fraudsters get consumers to download screen-sharing or remote-access apps or malware. Once installed, the fraudster gains access to confidential UPI details, which are then used in combination with other modus operandi, such as SIM-swapping.\n\nPayment apps should have the capability to detect potential malicious apps already downloaded on the device and restrict payments from going through.<\/li>\n \t
  4. Collect Request\n\nThrough classified ads, fraudsters initiate conversation with sellers they are impersonating as potential buyers. Creating a sense of urgency, the fraudster intends to make a quick payment without much negotiation and sends a collect request, sometimes in the form of a QR code.\n\nThe VPA IDs used by fraudsters are generally gibberish and at times have numbers or alphabets in sequence. Banks or financial institutions\u2019 apps should have the capability to\u00a0detect such patterns<\/a>\u00a0on beneficiary VPA handles.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    UPI has made digital payments more accessible and convenient for millions of people in India, and it is expected to continue to play a significant role in India\u2019s digital payments ecosystem in the coming years. With continued efforts of educating consumers against frauds, banks and financial institutions should leverage the technological advancements against the mushrooming UPI frauds.<\/p>\n

    Author:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Sujit Kumar Mahato<\/a>, Product Manager<\/p>\n

    Wibmo<\/a>\u00a0A PayU\/Naspers FinTech Company<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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