Shop Counter QR Sticker Swap Targeting Small Merchants over the phone

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

Callers pretend to be bank staff, police, a courier, a telecom officer or a relative, and they try to keep you on the line while you act. Shop Counter QR Sticker Swap Targeting Small Merchants is one of the ways this shows up: Scammers paste their own payment QR over a shop's real code so customers pay the wrong account. Shopkeepers and customers should check the name.

What shop counter qr sticker swap targeting small merchants looks like over the phone

• Instructions to install a screen-sharing app or to press keys on the phone.
• A second "senior officer" who takes over the call.
• An unknown or international number, or a number that looks like a real office.

The set-up is a quick visit. The scammer, acting like a customer, buys a small item and places a printed QR sticker over the shop's code, or leaves a new standee on the counter that looks like the old one. The code he uses belongs to an account under his control. The sticker uses the same colours and style as the shop's board, so a quick glance shows nothing unusual.

Red flags to check on the phone call

• A QR board looks newer, thicker or slightly misaligned.
• The soundbox or app does not confirm a payment the customer says was made.
• The payee name shown to customers does not match the shop's name.
• A stranger spent time at the counter and touched the board.
• The caller wants you to install an app to "fix" something.
• The caller asks for an OTP, UPI PIN, card PIN or CVV.

What to do

1. Check the QR board each morning and evening for stickers or changes.
2. Prefer a soundbox or app alert linked to your own account for each payment.
3. Ask customers to confirm that the payee name matches your shop.
4. Hang up. A real bank or office will not mind that you call them back.
5. Call the bank or office on the number printed on your card, bill or official app, not on a number the caller gave.
6. Never share an OTP or PIN. No genuine staff member needs it.

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. If you or a customer paid the wrong account, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in with the UPI reference.
2. Tell your bank through its official app so the receiving account can be noted.
3. Keep a photo of the sticker, the shop's board and the transaction list.
4. Replace the QR board with a fresh one from your own bank's app.

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

QR check in Safeavio Sentinel scans a code and shows where it goes before you pay, which helps customers and shopkeepers notice a payee that does not match the shop. Money Shield explains what to verify before paying. Safeavio cannot detect a sticker on a physical board, cannot confirm that payments arrived and cannot recover money sent to the wrong account.

Full guide: Shop Counter QR Sticker Swap Targeting Small Merchants: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: QR code, fake app, social media.

Questions