OLX Buyer Sends a QR Code to Receive Payment 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. OLX Buyer Sends a QR Code to Receive Payment is one of the ways this shows up: A buyer on OLX or Facebook Marketplace says 'scan this QR to get paid' and your account is debited instead. Learn why you never scan to receive.

What olx buyer sends a qr code to receive payment looks like through an app

• A screen-sharing or remote-control app that a caller asks you to install.
• A loan app that asks for contacts and photos.
• A "KYC", "challan" or "bank rewards" app from a link.

The scammer searches listings and picks items priced reasonably. He messages straight away and moves the chat to WhatsApp, where he is harder to trace. He agrees to the price without any haggling, which feels like a lucky sale, and says he will arrange a pick-up person after payment. He claims to have an urgent posting or business trip.

Red flags to check on the app

• The buyer accepts your price instantly and never asks about the condition of the item.
• You are told to scan a QR code or enter a UPI PIN in order to receive money.
• The chat is moved off the marketplace to WhatsApp within a few messages.
• The buyer says he cannot visit and will send a courier or 'army' person later.
• You were told to install it by a stranger or a caller.
• It has few or odd reviews, or a name with spelling changes.

What to do

1. Stop at once and do not enter your UPI PIN for any 'receive' request.
2. Read your bank SMS carefully: 'debited' means money left, 'credited' means money came in.
3. Share your UPI ID or account number for receiving, never a QR code you have been sent.
4. Run a phone scan (Safeavio Sentinel lists risky apps and settings).
5. Call your bank, and call 1930 if money moved.
6. Do not install it. If it is installed, uninstall it now (Settings, Apps).

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. Call 1930 immediately and report at cybercrime.gov.in with the UPI transaction ID.
2. Tell your bank through its official app or the number on your card.
3. Block the buyer and save the chat and QR image before you do.
4. Do not scan any further codes, even if the buyer says it will 'reverse' the payment.

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

Use QR check in Safeavio Sentinel to scan a QR code and see where it leads before you pay or open anything. It helps you notice that a code which should receive money is really asking you to pay. Money Shield explains in plain words that you never need a PIN to receive money. Safeavio cannot stop you from entering a PIN or recover a payment that has left your account.

Full guide: OLX Buyer Sends a QR Code to Receive Payment: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: WhatsApp, QR code.

Questions