Safe Digital Payments Introduction Digital payment has become an essential part of our lives and we use UPI, mobile banking, debit card and various other methods for making payments, paying bills, transferring money etc. Although these methods make our lives easier, there is also some level of risk that comes along with them and we must learn how to avoid them in order to stay protected from fraudsters. 1 Do Not Share your OTP (One Time Password) OTP has become one of the most crucial aspects of making digital payments and we must ensure to not share our OTP under any circumstances. 2 Keep your UPI PIN Confidential UPI PIN must always remain confidential as no legitimate organisation will ask for it in order to transfer funds to us 3 Check the Reciever Before making any payments it is important that we check the name and other details of the reciever account in order to ensure that the money is transferred to the correct account 4 Be Careful with QR codes QR codes should only be scanned when we know they are legitimate and understand what the transaction will do. We should check the payment details before confirming any transaction. 5 No Suspicious links In today's time we often encounter advertisements that lure us into clicking on them with rewards like cashbacks, jobs etc but in such instances we must make sure to check the link before visiting it 6 Use the official apps Although there are many unofficial apps that can be used to make payments, it is best to use the official apps of the organisations rather than some random apps recommended by unknown people 7 Monitor Your Transactions We must also make sure that we monitor our own transactions and check if any suspicious activity has been carried out in our accounts 8 What I should do if I make a mistake? If I ever make a mistake I must first of all accept that I was mistaken and take responsibility for my actions and inform the concerned parties. Next I should try to resolve the situation at the earliest possible time. In case I do not have a solution I can ask others for help. Finally I can think about what I did wrong in order to ensure that I do not repeat the same mistake again in the future. Similarly if I share any sensitive information I must contact my bank or payment service provider in order to prevent any damage and change my credentials if required. Conclusion Digital payments are indeed useful but at the same time we must use them wisely. While making transactions it is important that we do not share sensitive information like OTP, UPI PIN etc, stay aware of suspicious links and use the official apps provided by the organisations rather than any random apps that may be suggested to us that could be frauds. A little awareness goes a long way in order to keep ourselves safe from fraudsters. Key Message Before paying think, before clicking check, and never give your PIN or OTP.