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Dhan SurakshaSecuring Your Wealth, Ensuring Your Peace
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LEARN THE BASICS — AN EVERYDAY PRACTICE

Good habits.
Safer decisions.

You don’t need a technical background to build safer habits. Start with six practical ways to question unfamiliar requests, protect your accounts, and verify before acting.

Start with the six habits

Reference edition 01 Aug 2026

  1. RECEIVING MONEY

    Read what a payment request asks you to do

    Check whether you are sending or receiving money. Don’t approve an unfamiliar request just because someone calls it a refund. Keep sign-in codes private when an unexpected contact asks for them.

  2. MAKING A PAYMENT

    Check the recipient and amount

    Before confirming a payment, check who will receive it. If the recipient is unfamiliar or differs from what you expected, verify directly with the person or business.

  3. PROTECTING YOUR DETAILS

    Keep account credentials private

    An unexpected caller asking for your password, sign-in code, or PIN is a warning sign. End the contact and use your bank’s official app or the number on your card.

  4. HANDLING PRESSURE

    Slow down under pressure

    A threat to lock your account or a demand to pay immediately is a reason to pause. Call back independently before taking action.

  5. OPENING A WEBSITE

    Start from an official website or app

    For bank alerts, IRS notices, or delivery updates, open the official app or type a known website address yourself. Don’t use an unexpected message’s link as your starting point.

  6. GETTING HELP

    Know where to report

    In the US, contact your financial provider and use FTC or FBI IC3 reporting as appropriate. CFPB handles financial-company complaints; IdentityTheft.gov offers recovery steps. India-specific help includes 1930 and cybercrime.gov.in; other international resources remain in the reporting directory.

A MOMENT TO PRACTICE

Knowing is good.
Practicing is better.

Try applying the habits to an everyday situation. There’s no timer. Take the pause that a scammer wouldn’t give you.

AN INCOMING CALLEducational scenario
“This is your bank’s fraud team. Your account is at risk. Stay on the line and read me the verification code we just sent.”

What’s your next move?

Choose a response to see the reasoning behind it.

KEEP THESE CLOSE — 02

Five rules.
Worth remembering.

Five practical habits for recognizing suspicious requests. If you remember nothing else from this site, remember these.

Open a rule to explore the details.
  1. 01Read what the request authorizes

    An unfamiliar payment request asking you to pay is not incoming money. Read the recipient, amount, and action before approving it.

    • “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.
    • Sign-in codes can grant account access. Keep them private when an unexpected caller asks for them.

    India: India-specific UPI guidance: receiving money does not require entering your UPI PIN. Read a collect request before authorizing it.

  2. 02Don’t grant remote access to an unexpected caller

    Remote-access tools have legitimate uses, but an unexpected caller can misuse them to control your device or watch account activity.

    • Typical requests: install AnyDesk, TeamViewer, QuickSupport, or “our support app”.
    • Never give an unknown person remote access to your phone or computer.
    • If you granted access, disconnect the device and use a trusted device to contact your bank and secure accounts. Seek help removing the tool and checking for malware.
  3. 03Be 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. 04Check the actual website address

    Logos, fonts and full page layouts are trivial to copy. Check the actual domain and start from an official address you know.

    • Look at the address, not just the logo.
    • US example: usps.com is the official postal website; example.com is a fictional look-alike for teaching.
    • 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. 05Don'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.
    • An unexpected support contact requesting sign-in codes, remote access, or gift cards is a warning sign. Verify independently.

Already scammed?

Act in this order. Start with your financial provider.

Being scammed is not your fault. Stop all further payments, stop following the caller's instructions, and work through these four steps.

  1. 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.
  2. 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. Ask about stopping or disputing the payment and protecting your account. Recovery is not guaranteed.
  3. 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. Your state attorney general's office may also take reports.
  4. 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

YOUR ACTION CHECKLIST

In the first
few minutes.

Being scammed is not your fault, and speed matters more than anything else. Work through these steps in order.

You can check off steps as you work. This checklist stays on this page and resets when you leave.

KEEP THE MOMENTUM

Ready to check what stuck?

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