A new scam is posing a serious risk for users who are trying to seek help from Paytm Customer Care on Twitter. Users have observed that anything that is tweeted with the word ‘Paytm’ in it, immediately gets responses from several automated fake bot accounts, which respond by posing as Paytm customer care executives. These fake bot accounts can potentially steal personal details from users and transfer money from their bank accounts.
Twitter’s new policy to introduce a paid verification label has fuelled the proliferation of such fake bot accounts as users can easily fall prey to misinformation by unknowingly interacting with fraudsters who have bought the verification badge.
However, in the case of Paytm, both the official account named ‘Paytm Care’ and the fake bot accounts are unverified.
How do the scamsters operate?
As soon as the word 'Paytm' is tweeted, regardless of context, unverified bot accounts promptly offer support to users with fake customer care numbers. These bots aim to target individuals who may require assistance with payment or other Paytm-related issues. These deceptive bots mimic the writing of the official Paytm Care handle to make the users believe that they may be legitimate.
In case a user falls for their message and seeks out help, these scamsters may ask for screenshots with personal account information or ask users to download screen-sharing apps to steal login information, bank details, passwords, UPI pins and more.
As per a News18 report, most of these scammers also try to steal money by claiming to offer a refund. However, instead of a refund, use the request money feature on UPI to steal the amount.
In a statement, Paytm said users must come forward and report any suspicious or fake accounts.
"While this is primarily a Twitter issue, we at Paytm are committed to maintaining transparency, integrity, and a safe environment for our users across all platforms, including social media channels," Paytm said in response to a query by CNBC-TV18.
"We are closely working with Twitter to ensure the authenticity of Paytm’s handles and are proactively monitoring such fake bots and ensuring that they are taken down by Twitter. Through our social media handles, we regularly put out tweets to make people aware of the real Paytm Care handle, besides our ongoing social media campaign to promote digital safety," Paytm added.
How to identify these bots?
One way to easily identify these fake bot accounts is by looking at their usernames.
Typically, they contain a series of random numbers and may include the term "Paytm" in their usernames, which is a clear indicator that these are likely fake accounts.
Another way to identify if the accounts are fake is to check the content of their message. The genuine Paytm Care commonly suggests users to use the direct message option to address any queries, rather than providing a customer care number. Also, the messages from the bot accounts often contain spelling errors, incoherent writing, mismatched fonts, and other such inconsistencies.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
First Published: May 11, 2023 5:19 PM IST
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