5 Scam Red Flags Draining Your Bank Account

Fake loan offers, malicious apps, and phishing links are emptying Indian bank accounts year-round. Here are 5 concrete ways to spot a scam before it costs you money.

Here's what happened: Online financial scams in India have moved well beyond festive season spikes — fake loan apps, phishing links, and UPI collect-request frauds now operate year-round targeting salaried and self-employed users.. Authorities including MHA's I4C unit and RBI have repeatedly warned consumers about unregistered lending apps that harvest Aadhaar, PAN, and banking credentials before disbursing any money.. India's national cybercrime helpline (1930) and the cybercrime.gov.in portal exist specifically for financial fraud — early reporting within hours can help banks freeze fraudulent transactions..

What you should do: Verify any lending app by checking the RBI's official list of registered NBFCs and digital lenders at rbi.org.in before submitting any personal or banking document.. Call 1930 immediately if you suspect fraud — do not wait — and file a written complaint on cybercrime.gov.in within the same day to maximise chances of fund recovery.. Revoke unnecessary app permissions right now: open your phone's Settings > Apps, and remove contact, SMS, and photo access from any financial app that does not genuinely need them..

A UPI 'collect request' pulls money FROM you — not to you. If a stranger sends you a small amount and then asks you to approve a collect request to 'return' it, reject it immediately.