The one rule to remember
To receive money, you never scan a QR code and never enter your UPI PIN. Your PIN is only ever needed to send money or check your balance.
Every QR code scam tries to make you forget this rule, usually by promising you money.
Common tricks
- “Scan to receive your cashback / refund / prize.” The QR code actually asks your UPI app to pay the scammer.
- The online buyer. Someone wants to buy what you listed on OLX or Facebook, often saying they’re in the army. They send a QR code or a “payment request” and ask you to approve it to receive the money.
- “Sent by mistake.” A message says money was sent to you by mistake and asks you to return it, sometimes with a request to approve. Often nothing ever arrived.
- Swapped shop stickers. A scammer sticks their own QR code over a shop’s, so your payment goes to them.
Example: “Scan this QR to receive ₹4,999 cashback from PhonePe. Offer valid today only.”
How to check a QR code before you pay
- Read the screen before the PIN. After you scan, your UPI app shows who you’re paying and how much. If it says “Pay” or asks for your PIN, money will leave your account.
- Check the name. At a shop, the name shown should match the shop. If it’s a person’s name you don’t expect, ask before paying.
- Never approve a request you didn’t start. A “collect request” in your UPI app is someone asking you to pay them, whatever the message says.
- Check your bank app yourself before returning money “sent by mistake”. If it really arrived, ask your bank to reverse it rather than paying back to a new number.
Already paid?
Call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in immediately, and tell your bank. Keep the transaction ID (UTR) and a screenshot of the QR code. See what to do in the first hour.
Check a QR code with Verth
Choose a screenshot or photo in Verth’s Photo or screenshot check. It reads the QR code on your phone and tells you plainly whether it pays someone, who, and how much, and warns you if the message around it says “scan to receive”.
Check a QR code freeMore safety guides
How to spot a fake job or exam offerExam fees, “joining kits” and paid task jobs: how fake offers work and how to check one.Read the guide →How to spot a “digital arrest” scamFake police and CBI on a video call. Why no real officer arrests anyone this way, and what to do.Read the guide →Lost money to a scam? What to do in the first hourCall 1930, tell your bank, save the evidence. The steps that give you the best chance.Read the guide →