Beware Of The WhatsApp QR Code Scam: People Are Losing Money And Data
WhatsApp scam is on the rise in the country and people are losing their hard-earned money. Scamsters are leveraging the messaging app used by millions to execute QR code scams. Online scams are hard to trace and most of the time, the money is unrecoverable.
What is the WhatsApp Scam?
Fraudsters use WhatsApp to execute financial scams with users. Usually, it begins with news of winning a lottery or a contest with jaw-dropping price money. Then begins the attempt to convince the users that they are now a millionaire and will receive the amount soon. After a few rounds of bogus verification procedures and account details, the fraudsters demand some payment to release the money to your account.
Many users fall prey to such basic deceit and wire the money to the account of the fraudster. Another type of emerging WhatsApp Scam case is by using dubious QR codes to steal money from the users. The perpetrator establishes communication on WhatsApp and then sends a QR code to the user. They direct the user to scan the codes in order to receive money from them.
The user thinks they need to do this in order to receive payments and thus ended up losing every penny in their account. WhatsApp even introduced a payment feature that makes it convenient to make payments. Rather than opening any other app, users can pay via WhatsApp. It makes the fraudsters’ job easier because the user doesn’t even need to leave the app.
How to stay safe from UPI scams?
An important thing to note is that QR codes are only used to make payments. They are designed for that specific purpose only. You cannot scan QR codes to receive payments to your account. This is a simple condition that remains widely unknown even today.
When someone scans a QR code, they are directed to the UPI payment page where they need to enter the password before transferring the desired amount. But in the case of the WhatsApp scam, fraudsters trick you into scanning their QR code and enter the amount and UPI PIN.
Never indulge in a conversation with anyone you don’t know on WhatsApp. If you receive messages about a lottery or prize you never subscribed to, report and block the account. Never share your bank account details or UPI PIN with anyone.
