Following a cautionary message from the police, traders across the State have stepped up their vigil against fraudsters who are suspected of pasting private QR codes over the existing ones to divert online payments to other accounts. The police came up with the warning in the wake of noticing such cases from various parts of the State.
Though the majority of the large-scale traders have voice-enabled notification systems at their shops to instantly confirm payments, many small-scale traders are still clueless of such verification methods. Most of such traders are just trusting the version of consumers after the payment. There are also traders who make use of UPI accounts of their family members who may not be available all the time to confirm payment alerts.
“As a temporary solution, we are continuing with a social media campaign to alert our traders’ fraternity about the trickery. The victims are mainly those who keep QR codes outside their shops and ignore payment confirmation options,” says Raju Apsara, State general secretary of the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti.
Following safety alerts, many traders have already removed QR codes displayed outside shops. Many are in the process of keeping them in such a way to avoid any kind of tampering. Those having closed-circuit television cameras have started checking visuals to rule out such attempts.
Same names
Some of those who lost money through the trickery reveal that fraudsters have been found using the same name of the trader in the QR code to create no element of suspicion in the mind of the consumer. Minor changes in the receiver’s name have saved a few from making payments to wrong persons. In the wake of reporting such incidents, many traders are in the process of verifying their payment history.
Meanwhile, some of the traders have also come up with severe criticism against the police alleging negligence on their part in tracking such fraudsters who are using bank accounts for diverting payments. According to them, small-scale traders who do not have much knowledge about UPI-based payment systems are falling prey to such trickery and that the police should step in to nab such fraudsters.
Meanwhile, some of the traders have also come up with severe criticism against the police alleging negligence on their part in tracking such fraudsters who are using bank accounts for diverting payments. According to them, small-scale traders who do not have much knowledge about UPI-based payment systems are falling prey to such trickery and that the police should step in to nab such fraudsters.
