Every trick we know, written out plainly.

• Payment & banking

  KYC expiry trap

  "Your KYC is expired, account will be blocked today." A link to a page that looks like your bank and takes your login.

• Payment & banking

  The "safe account" transfer

  A caller claiming to be from your bank says your money is at risk and must be moved to a protected account. That account is theirs.

• Payment & banking

  Account blocked / suspicious login

  An alert about a login from another city, with a number to call. The number is the fraud.

• Payment & banking

  Credit card upgrade

  A free limit increase or a lifetime-free card, which needs your CVV and an OTP to "process".

• Payment & banking

  Reward points expiring

  Points worth thousands vanish tonight unless you redeem them through an app you must install first.

• Payment & banking

  UPI collect request

  A payment request dressed up as money arriving. Approving it sends money out, not in.

• Payment & banking

  Wrong-transfer refund

  "I sent money to you by mistake, please return it." The original credit is reversed later; your refund is not.

• Payment & banking

  QR code to receive money

  No QR code in India ever credits you. Scanning one only ever pays out.

• Payment & banking

  Cashback for scanning

  A reward offered for scanning a code or approving a small request, to teach you the habit before the large one.

• Payment & banking

  Fake customer care number

  A number planted in search results or on a maps listing, answered by somebody who will ask you to install a screen-sharing app.

• Payment & banking

  SIM swap and port-out

  A request to forward a message or share a port code, after which your OTPs go to their SIM.

• Payment & banking

  AePS biometric cash-out

  A fingerprint taken at a shop or a camp, used to withdraw from an Aadhaar-linked account.

• Investment fraud

  Telegram stock-tip group

  A group where everyone is making money, an "institutional" platform, and a withdrawal that never clears.

• Investment fraud

  Trading app that blocks withdrawal

  The balance rises beautifully. Taking it out needs a tax, then a fee, then a verification deposit.

• Investment fraud

  Fake SEBI-registered advisor

  A real registration number, copied from a real firm, pasted onto a fake one.

• Investment fraud

  Crypto doubling

  Send one coin, get two back. The first small test payment is honoured, to earn the large one.

• Investment fraud

  Guaranteed IPO allotment

  Allotment in a hot IPO for a price. Allotment cannot be bought by anybody.

• Investment fraud

  The long-friendship trap

  Weeks or months of genuine conversation before any money is mentioned. The patience is what makes it work.

• Investment fraud

  Celebrity investment video

  A convincing video of a well-known industrialist or news anchor endorsing a scheme they have never heard of.

• Investment fraud

  Fake mutual fund portal

  A site that mirrors a real fund house, down to the NAV, with its own bank account for your SIP.

• Investment fraud

  Forex arbitrage

  A proprietary system that cannot lose, usually with a dashboard showing profits that are only a number on a screen.

• Investment fraud

  Assured-return gold scheme

  Monthly gold accumulation with a guaranteed return, from a company with no licence to accept deposits.

• Investment fraud

  Fixed 3% a month

  Any fixed monthly return far above a bank deposit is somebody else being paid with your money.

• Deepfake & AI

  Cloned voice of a relative

  A thirty-second clip from a public video is enough. The voice cries, is in trouble, and needs money now.

• Deepfake & AI

  Deepfake video call

  A known face on a short, poor-quality video call, asking for an urgent transfer.

• Deepfake & AI

  Morphed obscene image

  An AI-made image of you, with a demand. Do not pay and do not delete the evidence.

• Deepfake & AI

  Fake officer on video KYC

  A video KYC call from a "bank officer" who needs you to read out an OTP on camera.

• Deepfake & AI

  The boss on a voice note

  A cloned senior colleague instructing a junior to make a payment before the end of the day.

• Deepfake & AI

  Fake endorsement reel

  A doctor, a cricketer or an anchor promoting a product or scheme, assembled from real footage.

• Government & police

  Digital arrest

  Hours on a video call with a fake officer in a fake police room, told not to tell anyone. Nobody is ever arrested this way.

• Government & police

  Fake court summons

  A notice with a case number and a seal, sent as a PDF, demanding a payment to settle.

• Government & police

  Parcel with narcotics

  Customs has found contraband in a parcel in your name. The clearance fee is the fraud.

• Government & police

  TRAI or DoT number misuse

  Your number has been used for illegal activity and will be disconnected today unless you speak to an officer.

• Government & police

  Fake CBI or ED officer

  Credentials held up to a camera, a warrant on screen, and an account to pay into to clear your name.

• Government & police

  Income tax refund

  A refund waiting, claimable on a link that collects your bank login.

• Government & police

  GST notice

  A notice to a small business with a penalty and a short deadline, designed to be paid rather than checked.

• Government & police

  Electricity disconnection

  "Your connection will be cut at 9.30 tonight." A phone number, then a screen-sharing app, then your account.

• Government & police

  Gas connection KYC

  A subsidy or safety update that needs your Aadhaar and a small verification payment.

• Government & police

  Aadhaar suspension

  Your Aadhaar is suspended for a mismatch, reactivated on a link. UIDAI does not work this way.

• Jobs & loans

  Work-from-home tasks

  Rate hotels, like videos, small payments arriving nicely — then a deposit for a higher-earning task set.

• Jobs & loans

  Overseas job and visa fee

  A gulf or Europe placement with a fee for the visa, the medical and the ticket, from an agency with no licence.

• Jobs & loans

  Instant loan app

  A loan in four minutes, which reads your contacts and later threatens them with morphed pictures of you.

• Jobs & loans

  Loan approved, pay the fee

  Approval first, then a processing fee, an insurance premium, a GST payment, and no loan.

• Jobs & loans

  Fake bank recruitment

  An offer letter on a real-looking letterhead with a fee for training or document verification.

• Jobs & loans

  Like-and-earn

  Paid to like videos, through a Telegram handler, until the "VIP task" requires your own money.

• Jobs & loans

  Data entry registration

  A typing job with a registration fee and a contract whose penalty clauses are the actual business model.

• Jobs & loans

  Fake placement agency

  Nurses, drivers and security staff recruited for jobs that do not exist, with a fee each.

• Jobs & loans

  Loan settlement agent

  Somebody who will settle your loan at a discount if you pay them instead of your lender.

• Shopping & delivery

  Fake delivery OTP call

  The delivery boy cannot find your house and needs the OTP. That OTP is for something else entirely.

• Shopping & delivery

  Courier address correction

  A small fee of twenty or thirty rupees to correct an address — small enough that nobody checks the page.

• Shopping & delivery

  Train or airline refund

  A cancelled booking and a refund that needs your card details to be credited.

• Shopping & delivery

  Festival lucky draw

  You have won a car, a bike or a gift from a brand you do recognise. The processing fee is the prize.

• Shopping & delivery

  Too-cheap listing

  A phone or a bike at a third of its price, on a marketplace, with an advance to hold it.

• Shopping & delivery

  Customs duty on a gift

  A friend abroad has sent a parcel, and customs wants a duty paid to a personal account.

• Shopping & delivery

  Subscription auto-renewal

  A renewal you never agreed to, cancellable on a link that takes a payment instead.

• Services & people

  Mobile tower rent

  A telecom company wants to install a tower on your roof for a handsome monthly rent, after a security deposit.

• Services & people

  PF or pension help

  An agent who will release your provident fund or pension faster, for a fee and your login.

• Services & people

  Policy lapse revival

  Your insurance policy has lapsed and can be revived today, by paying an agent directly.

• Services & people

  Rent advance for a flat

  A flat shown only in photographs, with a token advance to hold it against other interest.

• Services & people

  Hospital emergency money

  A relative is in an accident and the hospital needs money before treatment. The number is not the hospital.

• Services & people

  Matrimonial profile

  A well-presented profile, a few weeks of conversation, and then a customs problem, a medical bill or a stuck shipment.

• Children & teenagers

  Free game diamonds

  Free in-game currency in exchange for an account login or an OTP.

• Children & teenagers

  Sextortion on video call

  A short video call, recorded, then a demand for money and the threat of telling the family.

• Children & teenagers

  Fake scholarship form

  A scholarship that needs Aadhaar, bank details and a registration fee.

• Children & teenagers

  Game top-up through a stranger

  A cheaper top-up bought for your child by someone online, using a stolen card, which drags the child into the investigation.

• Children & teenagers

  Talent-hunt audition fee

  A shortlisting for a show or a modelling contract, with a fee and sometimes a request for photographs.

• Children & teenagers

  The patient stranger

  Weeks of ordinary friendship on a game or an app, then a request for money, pictures or secrecy.

• Children & teenagers

  Fake exam result or paper

  A leaked paper or an early result, sold for a small amount, which also collects the student’s details.

New families are added as they appear, and the app updates its library over the air without needing a new version from the Play Store. If you have seen something that is not here, you can report it from inside the app.