Fake UPI App Flash Pay Scam through an app

How it looks through an app, the red flags and what to do.

Scam apps pretend to be a bank, a loan service, a game, a government service or a "support tool", and they ask for access to SMS, contacts, the screen or accessibility. Fake UPI App Flash Pay Scam is one of the ways this shows up: A shopkeeper or seller is shown a 'payment successful' screen from a copy of a UPI app that only mimics the look. No money is sent.

What fake upi app flash pay scam looks like through an app

• A loan app that asks for contacts and photos.
• A "KYC", "challan" or "bank rewards" app from a link.
• An .apk file sent on WhatsApp or by SMS.

The scammer installs an app from outside the official store that imitates the screens of well-known payment apps. It lets them type any name, amount and ID and shows a success page with sound and a tick. It is sold in groups and videos as a joke tool but is used to cheat small shops and street vendors.

Red flags to check on the app

• The payer shows a screen but there is no ping on your own phone.
• The customer is in a rush or asks you to hand over goods first.
• The screen loads with unusual animation or a slightly different logo.
• The payer refuses to let you scan or tap on your own device.
• It has few or odd reviews, or a name with spelling changes.
• It asks you to turn off Play Protect.

What to do

1. Wait for the credit message on your own phone or check your own bank or UPI app.
2. Do not hand over goods based on the customer's phone screen.
3. Show your own QR and watch the payment arrive on your device.
4. Open Settings and check Accessibility, Device admin apps and Install unknown apps for anything you do not recognise.
5. Change the passwords of your bank and email from a clean device if the app had access.
6. Run a phone scan (Safeavio Sentinel lists risky apps and settings).

Report the fake app to the store it came from and, if money moved, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. If goods were handed over, note the customer's face, time and any shop camera footage.
2. Call 1930 if any money moved on a false promise and give the details.
3. Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in with the time and amount.
4. Tell your bank if a cash return or transfer was made on a fake credit.

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

Safeavio's phone scan reviews installed apps and flags apps that look like copies of other apps and apps outside a store, which can help a shop owner or customer notice a suspicious fake payment tool on their own phone. The QR check shows where a code goes. Safeavio cannot judge a screen shown on someone else's phone. Check your own phone first.

Full guide: Fake UPI App Flash Pay Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: QR code, social media.

Questions