Branch Stories: names and personal details have been changed. Based on situations we see in Indian bank branches.
Ramesh bhai ran a small furniture shop two lanes behind our branch. Good man, loud laugh, always in a hurry. He came in one afternoon holding his phone with both hands, the way people hold something broken.
“Sir, mera paisa chala gaya. Forty-eight thousand.”
The “buyer” from the army
He had listed an old sofa set on an online marketplace. Within an hour, a man called. Very polite. Said he was an army officer recently transferred, didn’t have time to see the sofa, would pay the full ₹24,000 in advance. “Sir, army ka payment system thoda alag hai. I will send you a QR code. Just scan it and the money will come to you.”
Ramesh bhai scanned. The screen showed ₹24,000. It asked for his UPI PIN. He entered it.
The money didn’t come. It went.
The “officer” apologised. “Oh sir, wrong code, my mistake. I’ll send the correct one, you’ll get ₹48,000 back including the first one.” Ramesh bhai, now worried about his first ₹24,000, scanned again. Entered his PIN again.
Another ₹24,000 gone. Then the number was switched off.
The one rule nobody tells you clearly
I sat him down and showed him on my own phone.
“Ramesh bhai, listen carefully. To receive money, you never need to scan anything and never need to enter your PIN. Money comes into your account by itself. The moment any app asks for your UPI PIN, it means money is going out of your account. Always. No exception.”
He looked at me for a long time. “Itni si baat?”
“Haan. Itni si baat.”
That’s the painful part of this fraud. It is not about technology. It is about one simple fact that people don’t know.
What we did next
- We immediately called 1930, the national cyber crime helpline, and registered a complaint with the transaction IDs. When reported quickly, money can sometimes be put on hold in the receiving account.
- He filed the complaint on cybercrime.gov.in with screenshots of the chat and the QR codes.
- We raised a dispute through the bank and noted the complaint number.
Because he came within a couple of hours, part of the money was traced and frozen in the fraudster’s account. Getting it back still took time and paperwork, but he did not lose everything. Many people who wait a day or two are not so lucky.
Why shopkeepers and sellers are targeted
- They expect payments, so “scan to receive” doesn’t sound strange.
- They are busy, so they don’t read the screen carefully.
- The “army officer” or “transfer” story builds trust and explains why the buyer can’t come.
- After the first loss, panic makes the second mistake easier.
Banker’s advice
- Receiving money never needs your UPI PIN. If a screen asks for it, you are paying.
- Read the screen before entering the PIN: it shows “Pay” and the amount going out.
- Never scan a QR code sent by a buyer. Give them your QR or UPI ID instead.
- Be suspicious of “I can’t come, I’ll pay in advance” buyers, especially with uniform or army stories.
- If money goes, call 1930 immediately. The first hours matter most.
Ramesh bhai now has a small printed sign at his counter: “Paise lene ke liye PIN nahi lagta.” He told me a customer read it and laughed. Two weeks later, the same customer came back and thanked him. He had almost fallen for the same trick.
This story is for awareness. If you are a victim of online fraud, call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in and inform your bank immediately.