Army Transfer Tenant Advance Scam over the phone

How it looks over the phone, the red flags and what to do.

On a call the pressure is live: no time to read, no time to check, and a rule that you must not tell anyone. Army Transfer Tenant Advance Scam is one of the ways this shows up: A 'transferred army officer' wants to rent your flat and pays an advance by making you scan a QR code. Learn how this landlord trick drains accounts.

What army transfer tenant advance scam looks like over the phone

• Being told to stay on the line and not to tell your family.
• Instructions to install a screen-sharing app or to press keys on the phone.
• A second "senior officer" who takes over the call.

The fake tenant calls a few hours after the listing goes up. He speaks politely, offers more than the asking rent, and says he cannot visit because of duty. The uniform photo and the ID are meant to end any doubt, as many owners are glad to trust a person who sounds disciplined and in a hurry.

Red flags to check on the phone call

• A tenant who will not visit the flat but pays an advance quickly.
• An ID or uniform photo offered as proof.
• A QR scan or PIN request to receive an advance.
• A 'Rs 1 test payment' that supposedly checks your account.
• You are told that a case, arrest, block or penalty is coming within minutes.
• You are asked to move money to a "safe account".

What to do

1. Refuse any QR scan or PIN entry to receive money.
2. Ask for a visit and meet in person before accepting any advance.
3. Accept rent only through a transfer you can see credited in your own banking app.
4. If you already installed an app on the call, uninstall it and switch on airplane mode, then call your bank at once.
5. Tell a family member and report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility).
6. Hang up. A real bank or office will not mind that you call them back.

Report the number on the Sanchar Saathi portal (Chakshu facility). If money moved, call 1930 immediately.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 at once and report at cybercrime.gov.in.
2. Ask your bank, on the number on your card, to block UPI and net banking.
3. Change your UPI PIN and keep the listing page and chat as evidence.
4. Visit the police station with the number, the QR image and the transaction ids.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio's QR check can scan a code you receive and show where it goes before you pay or approve, and the Money Shield checklist reminds you that receiving money never needs a PIN. The scam check on the chat text flags the rush and the QR request. Safeavio cannot verify an ID card or the person's identity, and it cannot return money sent.

Full guide: Army Transfer Tenant Advance Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: WhatsApp, QR code, fake app.

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