With the rise of online payment service providers in the Indian market, the cases of online frauds has also risen considerably. And that rise has been specifically high in the case of Paytm, country’s largest digital payments platform. And since many of these targeted users in India are new entrants to the world of Internet, they usually end up losing money.
To prevent that, Paytm has started filing FIRs against cyber criminals as it looks prevent phishing and scam.
Paytm Payments Bank has handed over 3,500 numbers to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the ministry of home affairs (MHA) and CERT-In, India’s cybersecurity agency.
The company says that it hopes the government and the telecom regulator could use the database of around 3,500 numbers shared by the company to stop the fraud attempts on consumers, which Paytm says erode the trust of millions of Indians.
The payments bank is also in conversations with the authorities and has emphasized the need for timely and effective legal action to end this menace with the involvement and support of telecom operators.
The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company has also requested TRAI to prohibit telcos from using/selling any ‘Shortcode’ similar to the word “Paytm” such as “PYTM” or anything that is similarly written.
SMS shortcodes are used to fool consumers by falsely using the company’s name. For example, one of the most used shortcode is Pytm, which is mimicking Paytm. This leads to consumers believing the text is coming officially from Paytm.
Further, Paytm Payments Bank has also discussed with TRAI the need to give financial institutions the authority to raise requests with telcos for the immediate blocking of phone numbers and shortcodes sending fraudulent SMS.
