Free public awareness project
Every day, people lose money to scams they never saw coming.
Dhan Suraksha breaks down real fraud techniques so you can recognize the warning signs before it's too late.
Written for students, parents, elderly users and anyone new to digital payments.
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Waiting for a message
We highlight the patterns fraud teams look for: urgency, account threats, code requests, look-alike links and untraceable payment methods.
The Red Flag Detector provides educational guidance and cannot guarantee whether a message is legitimate. When in doubt, independently contact the organization through an official channel.
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Educational recreation — not a real message.
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Latest scam patterns
What our research desk reviewed most recently, in plain language.
- AI & Deepfake
AI Voice Cloning "Family Emergency"
A cloned voice of your child or parent calls in distress and begs you to send money now.
Reviewed 01 Aug 2026Learn how it works - Impersonation
"Hi Mom" WhatsApp Impersonation
A message from a new number claims to be your family member who lost their phone — and needs a payment.
Reviewed 01 Aug 2026Learn how it works - AI & Deepfake
Deepfake Celebrity Investment Pitch
A video of a famous investor or news anchor promotes a platform that does not exist.
Reviewed 01 Aug 2026Learn how it works - Marketplace
Marketplace Buyer Reversal
A "buyer" sends you a payment request instead of paying, and you end up paying them.
Reviewed 01 Aug 2026Learn how it works
The playbook
How scammers manipulate you
The stories change, but the pressure sequence almost never does. Recognising the sequence is often enough to stop a scam mid-call.
They borrow an identity you already obey
Scammers pose as an organization you would never argue with — your bank's fraud department, the IRS, the police, a government agency, Amazon, Apple or USPS. Once you accept the identity, you stop questioning the request and start following instructions.
In India: In India the same lever is pulled with the RBI, the Income Tax Department, local police or a "bank head office" caller.
“Your bank's fraud department is calling. Your account has been flagged. You must verify your identity immediately.”
You feel you must obey rather than question who is really on the line.
“This is the IRS. There is an issue with your return that must be resolved by phone today.”
A federal agency outranks your doubt — so you answer questions instead of asking them.
“Amazon security: a $1,299 order was placed on your account. Press 1 to speak with an agent.”
A brand you use daily makes the call feel routine, not suspicious.
Scammers don't need you to be careless. They need you to react before you think.
The four-step pressure chain
- 1
They borrow trust
A bank, a courier, a government office, or a familiar voice — an identity you already believe.
- 2
They create urgency
A deadline in minutes, so you act before you have time to check anything.
- 3
They isolate you
"Don't tell anyone", "stay on the line" — advice from someone else would break the spell.
- 4
They push one action
Share an OTP, tap a link, scan a code, or move money. That single step is the whole scam.
Break any one link in the chain — pause, verify on a number you already have, tell one other person — and the script falls apart.
See the safety habitsRemember these
5 rules that can save your money
Five habits that stop the large majority of payment fraud. If you remember nothing else from this site, remember these.
- 1
Never enter a PIN to receive money
Receiving a legitimate payment never requires your debit-card PIN, and never requires you to approve a payment screen.
- “Enter your PIN to receive your refund” is a major warning sign — treat it as fraud.
- In the U.S., the same trick appears as: authorize this transaction, read me the verification code, or accept this Zelle/Venmo/Cash App request.
- A code, PIN or approval only ever moves money out of your account.
India: In India this is the UPI PIN version: money in never needs a UPI PIN, only money out does.
- 2
Never install screen-sharing apps for “customer support”
Real support never needs to watch or control your device. Remote-access software hands over your banking session.
- Typical requests: install AnyDesk, TeamViewer, QuickSupport, or “our support app”.
- Never give an unknown person remote access to your phone or computer.
- If you already installed one, uninstall it, turn off Wi-Fi and data, and call your bank from the number on your card.
- 3
Be extremely cautious with QR codes
A payment QR code can be used to initiate a payment. If someone tells you to scan a QR code to receive a refund, payment, prize or money, stop and verify.
- Fake refunds: “scan this to get your money back” — the screen you approve is a debit.
- Fake marketplace buyers: a “deposit” QR sent before pickup.
- Fake parking or toll notices with a code stuck over the real one.
- Fake restaurant or business codes: a sticker pasted on top of the merchant's own.
India: India-specific UPI collect-request and QR-sticker mechanics are covered in the UPI cases in the Scam Library.
- 4
Check the actual website address
Logos, fonts and full page layouts are trivial to copy. The address bar is the part that is hard to fake.
- Look at the address, not just the logo.
- Legitimate example: sbi.co.in — suspicious look-alikes: sb1-online.com, sbi-online.net.
- Watch for extra words, hyphens and unusual endings around a familiar brand name, e.g. a “usps” or “chase” name followed by -alert, -secure, -verify, or an unexpected domain ending.
- Safest habit: type the address yourself or open the official app instead of tapping a link.
- 5
Don't blindly trust support numbers you find by searching
Fraudsters buy ads and publish fake business listings, so a search result can put their number above the real one.
- Get support numbers from the official app, the back of your card, the official website you typed yourself, or a statement or document.
- Never call back a number sent to you by text, email or a pop-up.
- If a “support agent” asks for codes, PINs, remote access or gift cards, the call is the scam.
Already scammed?
Act in this order. The first hours matter most.
Being scammed is not your fault. Stop all further payments, stop following the caller's instructions, and work through these four steps.
- Step 1Contact your bank or card issuerCall the number printed on the back of your card or use the number inside your official banking app. Ask them to freeze the card or account and open a fraud dispute. Do not call any number the scammer gave you.
- Step 2Report it inside the payment appIf money moved through Zelle, Venmo, Cash App or PayPal, report the transaction as fraud in the app immediately and contact the provider. Speed matters more than anything else in the first hours.
- Step 3Report to the right official authorityIn the U.S., report to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov, and to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at ic3.gov when it involves online crime or a significant loss. Your state attorney general's office may also take reports.
- Step 4Preserve every piece of evidenceScreenshots, transaction IDs, phone numbers, emails and messages, payment details, web addresses and the account information involved. Save it before anything is deleted — investigators and disputes depend on it.
If you are in India
Call the national cyber-fraud helpline 1930 as soon as you notice the fraud, then file a written complaint at cybercrime.gov.in and keep the acknowledgement number. Save UPI transaction IDs and the payee VPA.
Reporting depends on your country
- United States · 1-877-382-4357
- India · 1930
- United Kingdom · 0300 123 2040
- Canada · 1-888-495-8501
- Australia · 1300 795 995
- Europe (EU)
Trending right now
The patterns we are seeing most often in current reports and advisories.
The scams to know first
Each case explains how it works, a real-life example, the warning signs, and exactly what to do.
- High riskAI & Deepfake
AI Voice Cloning "Family Emergency"
A cloned voice of your child or parent calls in distress and begs you to send money now.
See how it works - Medium riskImpersonation
"Hi Mom" WhatsApp Impersonation
A message from a new number claims to be your family member who lost their phone — and needs a payment.
See how it works - High riskAI & Deepfake
Deepfake Celebrity Investment Pitch
A video of a famous investor or news anchor promotes a platform that does not exist.
See how it works - Medium riskMarketplace
Marketplace Buyer Reversal
A "buyer" sends you a payment request instead of paying, and you end up paying them.
See how it works - High riskInvestment Fraud
Fake Investment & Task Platforms
An app or site promises guaranteed daily returns, pays small amounts first, then vanishes.
See how it works - High riskInvestment Fraud
Long-Con Crypto "Pig Butchering"
A friendly stranger builds a relationship for weeks, then introduces a crypto platform they control.
See how it works
Browse by category
Most fraud falls into a handful of repeated patterns. Start with the category that matches what you saw.
- Phishing3 case studies
- Payment App Fraud3 case studies
- AI & Deepfake2 case studies
- Impersonation2 case studies
- Investment & Crypto2 case studies
- Tech Support2 case studies
- Government & Tax2 case studies
- Marketplace1 case study
- Romance & Social1 case study
- Healthcare1 case study
- Employment1 case study
- QR & Merchant Fraud1 case study
Why we exist
Nobody should lose their savings to a message they didn't understand.
Digital payments have made life easier, but they have also created new ways for people to lose money. Dhan Suraksha breaks down real scams into simple lessons so everyone can make safer decisions online.
Most victims are not careless. They are busy, or hurried, or trusting someone who sounded official. The scripts are polished and the fake screens look real. What actually helps is having seen the pattern once before — which is exactly what this site tries to give you, in plain language, for free.
Read about the project and who it's forInteractive quiz
Can you spot this scam?
Realistic situations — a fake bank SMS, a suspicious QR code, a cloned voice call. Choose a quick, full or practice round and see why each answer is right.
Where our information comes from
Public, citable sources
Advisories from RBI and NPCI, CERT-In notes and cyber-cell briefings. Every research entry links to its source where one is public.
A documented method
Collect, group into patterns, cross-check the numbers, then rewrite in plain language. The full method is published on the Research page.
Dated and reviewed
Each research entry carries its publication date, and the guidance on this site was last reviewed on 01 Aug 2026.
This site is educational awareness material, not legal or financial advice, and is not affiliated with any bank or payment provider. If you have lost money in the U.S., report it at reportfraud.ftc.gov (and ic3.gov for online crime). In India, call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in.
See the research and full source list