With the significant move towards improving the security of digital payments, PhonePe has introduced a new security program in their initiative, which involves blocking payments to phone numbers marked by the government as possible sources of fraud, named PhonePe Protect.
The tool will provide users with an alert and, in other instances, prevent the transactions when they want to send money to a risky number.
Within the same initiative, PhonePe compares the recipient number on a list of suspicious numbers to a list of suspicious numbers detected by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) through its Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) system.
The app will raise a warning message notifying the user that the number is treated as the high risk type when they enter a UPI ID or a mobile number.
Which is flagged, and will request the latter to provide closer attentiveness to the transaction. In case the risk score is huge, the payment can be stopped altogether.
The working principle of PhonePe Protect and its implications for you
How it works:
- In sending money through PhonePe, a user is normally asked to enter the UPI ID or mobile number of the recipient.
- In the background, PhonePe looks up the number in the government shared database as part of the very high risk category.
- Given that the number is flagged, there will be a pop-up saying that the recipient is possibly on a list of fraud watchlists.
- Tenpay blocks or further confirmation prompts allow the payment according to the category of risks.
- PhonePe also allows its users to report a number in case they believe it is a fraudulent one to widen the database of the risky individuals.
Frauds in digital payments are on the increase in India, and most instances are associated with the payment of money to the unknown people who, later on, become fraudsters.
PhonePe will intercept most of these transactions by flagging these transactions against any data held by the government to prevent the transaction against the data.
This has not only safeguarded the money of the users but also earned UPI payments as a secure mode of payment.
To the users, it will be an added step that they will not have to worry about as they send money.
Before long, however, you must be on the lookout but now the app will provide you with an added hoard of protection in case the bank number you are transmitting money over has been reported suspicious.
That would assist particularly in transactions in a hurry or those done blindly, as individuals end up sending money without verifying the information.
What you should do:
- Always update the PhonePe app so that you can have the Protect feature.
- Although the tool may be used, it is always advisable to verify the identity and purpose of payment of the recipient.
- Do not just go by warnings: even though no red flag is raised on the figure, it still might be a scam.
- The report suspect number option should be used when you suspect something is amiss; this will allow PhonePe to prevent new threats sooner.
The release of PhonePe Protect indicates the changes of payment apps are more than merely driving transactions forward but directly protecting their users against fraud.
PhonePe is providing smarter protection by associating real time alerts with government data of the high risk numbers at the time of payment.
The perpetrators of fraud are becoming more advanced it is encouraging to have tools that fight back.
With that being said, one component of the solution is the app. It is up to the users to remain alert, countercheck the recipient, and guard their money transfer.
PhonePe Protect will not prevent all frauds, but it will provide a significant barrier and will allow making UPI payments a bit safer for everyone.
