NPCI boosts digital payments safety for senior citizens
NATIONAL: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has stepped up efforts to promote digital payments safety awareness among senior citizens and protect them from various cyber frauds as adoption of digital transactions continues to grow in this segment. The initiative aims to sensitise elderly users to emerging cyber threats and equip them with practical safeguards to protect their savings.
NPCI has highlighted common frauds targeting senior citizens, including digital arrest scams, fake investment schemes, phishing and vishing attempts, tech support frauds and fraudulent refund links. NPCI has outlined simple but critical precautions that senior citizens should take to safeguard their hard-earned money. The awareness message emphasises that while digital payments offer convenience, informed usage and caution are vital to stay secure.
NPCI has cautioned that fraudsters are increasingly targeting senior citizens through deceptive schemes that include digital arrest scams, where criminals impersonate law enforcement officials and threaten victims with fake charges to extort money or personal information. NPCI has clarified that genuine government and law enforcement agencies will never demand money or conduct investigations over phone or video calls.
Its advisory also draws attention to investment fraud in which scammers pose as financial experts and promise extraordinary returns using fake endorsements from reputed organisations. Once the funds are transferred, the fraudsters disappear.
Senior citizens have been urged to treat investment offers that appear too good to be true with extreme caution since they are likely to be a scam. Fraudsters also indulge in phishing and vishing scams, which involve emails, texts or calls that impersonate trusted entities like banks or government agencies.
Here the objective is to trick senior citizens into revealing login details, OTPs or other sensitive information. They also carry out tech support scams wherein callers claim that they are from a tech company and that the user’s device is infected with a virus.
The fraudsters then trick the senior citizens into downloading applications that include files or apps which give them remote access, enabling data theft. NPCI has also warned against fraudulent refund and payment links where senior citizens are told to click a link to receive a refund or rebate for an online purchase. This leads to a fake page that steals their banking or payment data.
Highlighting the preventive measures that senior citizens should take, NPCI has advised that senior citizens should never share sensitive information such as UPI PINs, OTPs, passwords, bank account details or login credentials. It has reiterated that any person asking for such information is committing a fraud. Users have also been urged to avoid clicking on unknown links or installing applications shared by strangers or callers posing as authorities, as screen-sharing and remote access apps are often misused to steal data and gain control over devices like mobile phones.
On investment offers that sound too good to be true, senior citizens have been urged to verify the firms through official regulatory platforms, which include the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) before investing. Senior citizens have also been advised to also look for HTTPS in the web address, check official domain names, and avoid clicking on unsolicited links.
The NPCI advisory also stresses the importance of pausing when confronted with urgency-driven messages claiming that accounts will be blocked, KYC will expire, SIM cards will be deactivated or pensions will be stopped. While such tactics are designed to create panic, genuine institutions provide adequate time for verification and do not pressure individuals for immediate action.
In case of suspected fraud, citizens have been advised to immediately report the matter to the national cybercrime helpline by dialling 1930 or through the Department of Telecommunications’ Sanchar Saathi portal (https://sancharsaathi.gov.in/sfc/) and to inform their respective banks without any delay.
NPCI has encouraged users to preserve evidence by saving messages, taking screenshots and documenting interactions, and to seek assistance from trusted family members or neighbours before acting on instructions from unknown callers. NPCI has reiterated that digital payments remain a secure and robust system when used with awareness and caution.
It has encouraged senior citizens to adopt safe practices to transact confidently in the digital ecosystem.