Fake App Alert! Individuals duped via identical Paytm App, police arrests 8

In today's time, we rarely use cash while making purchases, in fact, the pandemic has made us completely dependent on online transactions through various platforms like PhonePe, Google Pay, UPI, Paytm, etc. While these apps have helped us survive the pandemic, it has also invited many people to commit fraud. 

First-time users of technology were targeted by scamsters in the process of online payment. In many such cases, one is of a fake 'Paytm' App that was being used to rob lakhs of rupees from the bank accounts of Indians. 

In this case, the Hyderabad police have arrested 8 people who were allegedly duping individuals as per The Indian Express. The police have recovered Rs 75,000 from the arrested individuals. Many such cases have been found in Chhattisgarh and Indore. 

Now, the fake Paytm App looks extremely similar to the original app that making it difficult for users to differentiate between the two. 

Fraudsters use the fake Paytm App and enter details of the item they want to purchase and generate a fake notification that appears on the shopkeeper's platform of the same app that shows that the customer has paid the money when in reality they had not paid the money. 

In such a case, no such transaction is actually being made it looks like it was made. 

Shopkeepers are being advised to check their balance after every transaction or wait for the message from the bank that the payment has been made.