UPI payment fraud: Here are safety measures to protect your money

The boom in UPI transactions has also led to a rise in the number of online frauds

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions have have surged four-fold in recent years in terms of volume and value. In terms of value, they rose from Rs 2.1-lakh crore in March 2020 to Rs 9.6-lakh crore this March. At the same time, the boom has also led to a rise in the number of online frauds.

Here’s what you can do to protect yourself from UPI fraud:

UPI Pin: Never share your UPI Pin with any unknown person. Note that the Pin is not needed for receiving money in your UPI account. Also, change your UPI Pin at regular intervals.

Websites: Do not conduct any transactions with suspicious websites or apps that claim to offer incentives or cashback. Also, avoid downloading third-party or unofficial apps on your mobile phone.

Access: Avoid giving access to your mobile phone or computer to customer care representatives or other unknown people. You can also use a fingerprint lock on your UPI app to secure it.

Payment limit: You can set a daily transaction limit on your UPI apps so as to minimise potential losses.

Be careful: Always look up the actual address of the agency or organization that you wish to transact with. Besides, read money requests carefully before making payments.

Other precautions that you can take:

• Use a secure WiFi connection that you trust and avoid open ones.

• Be cautious while entering your UPI Pin in public places.

• Never open links from unknown sources.

• Use a minimum number of UPI apps.