Scam alert - beware of fake deals and scammers on OlX and social media:- www.deekpay.com

In recent years, scammers have successfully deceived consumers by listing items at attractive prices or asking for payment instead of shopping for payment methods on sites such as OLX, Quikr, and Telegram. How do scams work? Usually scams are carried out in two ways:

Fraudsters play the role of sellers - Fraudsters initially register as sellers and win the trust of buyers by pretending to be associated with trustworthy professions such as armed forces personnel, CISF, etc., and by posting fake or stolen identity cards and documents. In such cases, the fraudsters share the Aadhaar and other identifying details of the person they are impersonating and ask for an advance payment for the listed goods. On some platforms like Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, etc., fraudsters deceive buyers by posting attractive prices for branded goods, claiming that they are the result of a customs auction or some other fake reason. Sometimes they also share fake receipts from courier companies indicating that the products have been shipped. Buyers are often convinced by these documents and lured by the prices and in turn make advance payments to the fraudsters through IMPS, UPI, wallets or link-based payments.

Scammers play the role of buyers - in this case, they target the seller by telling them that they have made a request to the seller, and once approved, they deposit the money into the seller's account. These requests are simply UPI collection requests. In this case, the seller thinks they are receiving payment and approves the collection request, which results in a debit to their account.

What can you do to protect yourself?

Be wary of fake offers, products or services. If the deal looks too good to be true, it often is. Don't be tempted by an iPhone for Rs 5,000 or a bike for Rs 15,000. Transfer payment to the seller only when the item is delivered to you. Platforms like OLX, Quikr have their own recommended payment methods and they act as intermediaries between buyers and sellers. Don't approve unsolicited collection requests.UPI collection requests are used by others to collect money from you, so approving them will result in you paying them.