WhatsApp QR Code Scam: Here’s what you need to know to stay safe

New Delhi: In India, WhatsApp has almost 400 million users, and the UPI, or Unified Payment Interface, allows you to pay using bank accounts on your smartphone. When you integrate both of these systems, users experience payment convenience like no other.

However, its success has piqued the curiosity of criminals and scammers, who have devised new methods of forcing individuals to pay out of their own pockets, without any compulsion. Scammers use the QR code payment method and send it via WhatsApp to people involved in the sale or purchase of an item to do this.

So, it's now known as the WhatsApp QR code scam, and we'll explain how it works and how to avoid being defrauded using this payment method.

Key things to know about QR Code scam:

If you buy things from online marketplaces, you may be asked to provide your bank account information in order to transfer money or to send the QR code for their account in order to complete the transaction.

This payment is made using a QR code that is provided to your mobile phone over WhatsApp.

When you need to pay someone, you usually raise your QR code; when you need to collect money, you don't require the other person's QR code.

Scammers use this technique to deceive the buyer and send their QR code, which the customer then uses to pay for the goods they are selling. Instead of getting money, the fraudster can steal it from you.

QR codes are generated for each account, and if any unknown source or sender shares their QR code with you, make sure you check before sending the money, and also cross-check if the amount is right, so the scammer does not take additional money out of your bank account.

WhatsApp is popular and widely used throughout the country, but situations like these require you to abandon such digital techniques.

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