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Staying safe online

The scams that reach this village most often, in the words the caller actually uses.

One rule covers almost all of it: no bank, no government office and no company will ever ask you for an OTP, a PIN or a password. Anyone who does is stealing from you — including someone who already knows your name, your village and your account number.

What the call usually sounds like

  • “Read me the OTP to confirm”An OTP only ever confirms something you started. If you did not start it, the OTP completes their transaction, not yours.
  • “Enter your PIN to receive the money”A UPI PIN is never needed to receive money — only to send it. A request to approve a payment is a payment out of your account.
  • “Your KYC has expired, your account will be blocked today”Urgency is the tell. Hang up and call the number printed on your passbook or card, never the number the caller gives.
  • “You have been selected — pay the registration fee”No genuine government recruitment asks for a fee over the phone or through a link. Check the department's own site.
  • “Loan approved — just pay the processing charge”A lender takes its charges out of the loan. Money demanded before a loan arrives is not coming back.
  • “You have won a prize / KBC lottery”You cannot win a competition you never entered. There is no tax to pay to release a prize.
  • A site that looks like the government oneOfficial addresses end in gov.in or nic.in, and Indian bank addresses end in bank.in. A search result that ends in anything else is not the department, whatever the page looks like.
  • “I am calling from customer care about your refund”Never install a screen-sharing or remote-support app for a caller. It hands them your phone, your bank app and your messages.

Where to report it

If money has already left your account, call 1930 first — the sooner the report, the better the chance of a freeze.

Government