One must be extremely vigilant and cautious while carrying out online transactions.
The country's top lender State Bank of India (SBI) is very active on social media and time to time releases tutorials, alerts and information for its customers for safer banking practices. Recently, SBI issued an alert relating to QR scans. It has alerted people not to scan QR Codes shared by anyone unless the objective is to pay.
With the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, online transactions have gained a lot of prominence. However, one must be extremely vigilant and cautious while carrying out online transactions.
QR codes have become an increasingly popular modus operandi for fraudsters to cheat people. With more and more people moving to online transactions, fraud related to the same has been on the rise. So, next time someone asks you to make payments by scanning a QR code, be super alert.
What is a QR code?
A QR code (Quick Response Code) consists of number of black squares and dots which represent certain digital information. When your smartphone scans this code, it translates that information into something that can be easily understood by it.
This is what SBI said
SBI has asked its customers to never scan a QR code, lest people fall for the scam.
"You don't receive money when you scan a QR code. All you get is a message that your bank account is debited for an 'X' amount. Do not scan #QRCodes shared by anyone unless the objective is to pay. Stay alert," SBI has tweeted.
SBI also shared a two-and-a-half-minute video explaining a situation on how scanning a QR code will actually result in your bank account getting empty. Check out the video tutorial to understand the position better.
The bank, in its video, made it very clear that scanning a QR code is always done for making payments, and never for receiving. SBI has advised customers to hang up the call if they receive such requests.
"Please understand, accepting a collect request of this sort or scanning a QR for receiving payment will always result in money getting debited from your account, on every single occasion. So, do not do that on any circumstance whatsoever while receiving money," the guide explains.
How does QR code fraud take place?
The scam starts with someone putting an item on an online sale website. That's when the fraudsters pose as buyers and share the QR code to pay an advance or token amount. They then create a QR code with a higher amount and share it with the intended victim through WhatsApp or email. They may also engage the victim in a conversation to confuse him or her.
After sharing the QR code, the con asks their victims to select the "Scan QR code" option on the app and select the QR code from the photo gallery. After scanning the QR code from the photo gallery, the victim is urged to proceed with the payment. As soon as the UPI PIN is entered, money is deducted from the bank account of the victim.
When confronted on WhatsApp, the cons plead innocence and request for a re-scan of the code to remedy the situation. But the moment this is done, another amount is debited from the victim's account.
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