Kerala merchants report rise in fake UPI payment scams

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Small business owners across Kerala are falling victim to a scam where fraudsters present fake UPI payment confirmations—often via manipulated screenshots or counterfeit apps—to trick merchants into handing over goods or services without actual payment.
The scheme exploits the high volume of UPI transactions and the common practice among traders of accepting a customer's phone screen as proof of payment rather than independently verifying the credit alert on their own device.
Both The Hindu and its Kerala edition flag the trend, noting that the fraud is spreading among micro and small enterprises that process dozens of digital payments daily.
The core vulnerability is behavioral: merchants are not cross-checking transaction IDs or waiting for their own bank's confirmation before completing a sale.
What to watch next includes whether state authorities or NPCI issue formal advisories, whether banks push server-side confirmation tools to merchants, and whether the scam migrates to other high-footfall retail corridors in India.

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“Many of us have been falling prey to different types of UPI-based frauds of late. Often, the fraudsters target small-scale shops run by a single person. The frauds frequently occur because the sellers do not suspect the scammers”
[1]The Hindu5 SeptOpen at the quote ↗
In the article
…smartphone from different shops. A similar fraud was reported at a major flower show in Wayanad earlier this year. Merchants’ forums have stepped up campaigns against such frauds in the wake of the repeated incidents. “ Many of us have been falling prey to different types of UPI-based frauds of late. Often, the fraudsters target small-scale shops run by a single person. The frauds frequently occur because the sellers do not suspect the scammers ,” Ajmal Chakkungal, president of the Muvattupuzha Merchants Association, said. Mr. Chakkungal said the association, which has 2,200 members, has started an active campaign to sensitise merchants and vendors to…

Who is affected first and what likely follows, with a direction and a horizon. Extracted from the reports, never invented.

1 report

English national1

All filed from IndiaSingle origin

Named India · Kerala · Ajmal Chakkungal · Muvattupuzha Merchants Association · Muvattupuzha police · Perumpadappu Police

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