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Journalism of Courage
Mobile payments company Paytm has issued a warning to its users to not fall for scam messages and calls from fraudster pretending to be company officials. “If you have received any SMS/call asking you to download any app for KYC completion then please do not trust these communications, these are fraudsters attempting to get your details,” Paytm said in a statement.
Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma also informed about the fraud in a tweet. “Pls (Please) don’t trust any SMS send of blocking your Paytm account or suggestion to do a KYC. These are fraudsters attempting on your account.”
The fraudsters have been reported to call Paytm customers and tell them that they are calling from Paytm to re-activate their KYC. It follows with the fraudster telling the customer to install remote access apps like AnyDesk, TeamViewer, and QuickSupport.
Once the app is installed, they tell the customer to accept the permissions asked by the app and then ask for the unique address code that is generated within the app. This allows fraudsters to access the customer’s device remotely for them to monitor, exploit the phone data, and banking apps on the victim’s smartphone.
Paytm also warns against fraudulent SMSes that trick a user in the name of cashback and other offers. The messages that are doing the rounds say that your KYC has been completed and you have received a cashback/offer; to access the offer, click the link. Paytm advises not to click such links and delete such messages. Paytm says that neither the company nor its employees send any SMS with a link to avail any offer.
Paytm KYC can only be completed at authorized KYC points or by a Paytm representative at user’s doorstep. Any SMS sent by Paytm regarding KYC will only have a link to fix an appointment with the KYC agents or find the nearby KYC points.
