As families prepare for festivals with shopping, gifting and celebrations, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has urged consumers to remain alert while making digital payments, highlighting five essential safety measures to prevent financial fraud during the festive season.
With attractive discounts, limited-period sales and cashback promotions encouraging people to shop across online and offline platforms, fraudsters are increasingly exploiting consumers’ excitement and urgency through social engineering tactics. NPCI has cautioned that seemingly attractive deals could lead to fake websites, fraudulent payment links and attempts to steal sensitive financial information.
The corporation has advised shoppers to use only official applications and websites, avoid suspicious links and unknown downloads, and complete payments through authorised checkout systems after verifying seller details. Consumers have also been warned against unsolicited cashback, free vouchers and festival gift offers demanding OTPs, banking information or upfront fees.
NPCI has reiterated that OTPs are meant exclusively to authenticate transactions initiated by users and should never be shared with callers claiming to represent banks or payment applications.
It has also advised consumers not to fall for messages creating panic over expiring offers, failed payments or account blocking, recommending verification through official channels.
Promoting the ‘Stop, Think, Act’ principle, NPCI has encouraged consumers to pause before responding, verify unexpected requests and act wisely, helping families enjoy festive shopping without compromising their financial security.
