Fake payment screenshot: does a buyer's screenshot prove you were paid?

What's circulating

PhonePe says fraudsters exploit a merchant who is too busy or distracted to check the payment confirmation, using a fake screenshot to avail products or services from the merchant.

PhonePe describes the fraud: a fraudster creates a fake screenshot of a payment confirmation to deceive the victim that the payment has been processed and the amount has been credited to the victim's account.

What is real?

• Paytm says a UPI payment is real only when you can see the credit yourself, in your own app or bank account.
• Paytm says a genuine payer simply sends money to your UPI ID or mobile number, and you do nothing except check that it arrived.
• Paytm says you never enter a UPI PIN or scan a QR code to receive money.
• Treat the buyer's screenshot as a picture, and look for the payment where it lands: in your own bank or payment app.

What the payment apps say

• Paytm says a payment screenshot proves nothing until the credit shows in your own history.
• Paytm says a forged screen can show the correct name, amount and time and still be fake.
• Paytm tells merchants to check every payment in your own history on the Paytm app instead of looking at the buyer's screen.
• PhonePe says it is easy to find websites and apps that allow fraudsters to create fake screenshots by editing an original payment confirmation message or app page.
• PhonePe says fake payment apps closely resemble popular payment apps, and that some imitate the sound of a payment notification, such as a beep or chime, to falsely suggest that a payment has been received.

Cases in the news

• lokmattimes.com reported that the accused scanned a shop's QR code and showed a screenshot indicating that the payment had been successfully transferred to the trader's bank account; trusting the screenshot, the trader handed over the machine, and upon checking his account later, he realised that no money had been credited.
• sentinelassam.com reported that the accused and another youth had been using counterfeit Google Pay and Paytm interfaces to make purchases without transferring any money to the recipients' bank accounts; although the payment appeared successful on the screen, the amount was never credited to the merchants.
• etvbharat.com reported a gang that targeted clothing stores, hotels and other establishments: they made purchases and then showed the staff a screenshot-like image generated by a fake UPI app, which falsely displayed that the payment had been successfully made, though no actual transfer of money had actually taken place.
• freepressjournal.in reported that a fake app worked exactly like the original Phonepe application: when the accused made payment through it, the transaction and the name of the person to whom the money was sent also appeared on the screen, but in reality the money was not received in the account of the merchants.

What to do before you hand anything over

• Paytm says that before you hand over anything, you should run a quick check, and that its first step is to open your UPI app and go to your payment history.
• Look there, not at the buyer's screen, for the payment they say they made.
• PhonePe says to always verify the payment confirmation message before handing over the product or service, by cross-checking your transaction history.
• PhonePe says screenshots “can be helpful in verifying payments but they can also be easily falsified”, tells you to “check for other indicators of payment confirmation such as email or SMS notifications from your registered bank”, and adds that for a merchant, a smartspeaker that notifies payments via a voice message can never go wrong.
• Paytm ends its check with one step: hand over the goods only after the credit shows in your own account.
• Paytm lists the usual warning signs: the buyer is in a hurry, the screenshot arrives on chat instead of being shown live, or the payment comes with a request to send back extra money that was paid by mistake.
• PhonePe warns that online businesses are forced to believe the person sending the payment confirmation screenshot even if they have not received a notification: they offer the product or service hoping to receive the payment later, and it is only much later that they realize they have been tricked.

Before you trust the picture

Got the screenshot in chat? Upload it in VOM with the upload link under the box at the top of this page.

Then open your own bank or payment app and look for the credit there, never on the buyer's screen.

I already handed over the goods. What now?

• Paytm says to report any fraud at once to your bank, the helpline 1930 and your UPI app.
• PhonePe says you can report fraud complaints at the nearest Cyber Crime cell or register a complaint online at cybercrime.gov.in or contact the Cyber Crime Cell helpline at 1930.

Frequently asked questions

Someone says they sent too much by mistake and asks for the difference back. Is that the same trick?

PhonePe describes it: under the false pretext that they have mistakenly sent money to the victim, they send a screenshot on Whatsapp and call them persistently, and they ask them to send the money back threatening to take legal action if they do not agree to send the amount.

etvbharat.com reported such an attempt on hotels in Alappuzha: the scamsters called to book a room and then sent a screenshot of a UPI transaction, claiming to have mistakenly transferred Rs 10,000 more than the required advance amount, and then requested a refund; the attempt failed when the hotel owner grew suspicious and cross-checked the hotel's bank statement.

The screen even played a sound. Does that prove it?

PhonePe tells merchants that verifying might include waiting for the payment authentication from your PhonePe smart speaker (fake apps cannot trigger these alert messages), checking the transaction ID or waiting for confirmation from your payment processor.