Next: Fraud and safety
The scams actually happening in India
Digital arrest, job and task scams, doubling schemes. The scripts word by word, why they work on careful people, and what to do the moment they land.
14 min
beginner
UPI and payment fraud
The collect-request trick, the QR scam, the wrong-number refund and the fake helpline number. One rule about your PIN defeats nearly all of them.
2 lessons · about 12 minutes · written for reading age 12 · last checked 2026-08-01
The one rule that defeats most of them
A UPI PIN only ever sends money — it never receives. Almost every UPI scam is built on that single fact, and knowing it closes most of them.
6 min
The other patterns
QR codes, wrong-number refunds, customer care numbers found on a search engine, and screen-sharing apps — four patterns, and one tell running through them.
6 min
Check yourself
3 questions at the end. Every wrong answer explains itself.
What changed recently
Dated commentary on this topic — a Budget change, a new rule, a scam pattern.
2026-06-30 · 6 min read
The e-Rupee is not UPI. Here is why
UPI moves a deposit your bank owes you. The e-Rupee is a claim on the Reserve Bank itself, held like cash. Both are digital; only one is central bank money.
2025-10-22 · 8 min read
The “digital arrest” call, and why it works
A courier parcel with drugs. A CBI officer on video call. Hours of isolation until you transfer everything. This scam follows one script — here it is.
Sources
- National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal — Ministry of Home Affairs · checked 2026-08-01
- Reserve Bank of India — regulations and public awareness — Reserve Bank of India · checked 2026-08-01