Paytm ‘fraud’: This big money manager lost Rs 5,000 from mobile wallet, here’s how he got it back

Paytm claims a customer base of more than 1.5 crore and an annual gross merchandise value of Rs 7,100 crore in its travel vertical business

A prominent investment manager got a rude shock this morning, when he discovered that Rs 5,000 from his Paytm wallet got automatically transferred to a juice vendor. Notably, Vikaas M Sachdeva, CEO of a reputed AMC, was hit by fraud and his entire balance of Rs 5,520.93 got transferred to Shree Balaji Juice centre at about 12.15 am on Tuesday morning. Sharing the incident of Twitter, Sachdeva said that the fraud took place when he was asleep at home. “Just flagging off a fraud which happened to me. My entire paytm balance of over 5k got transferred to an entity called Balaji juice centre at 12.15 am today while I was asleep at home. Reported it to @Paytmcare but am surprised how vulnerable paytm is to cyberfraud,” Vikaas Sachdeva tweeted. 

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Just flagging off a fraud which happened to me. My entire paytm balance of over 5k got transferred to an entity called Balaji juice centre at 12.15 am today while I was asleep at home. Reported it to @Paytmcare but am surprised how vulnerable paytm is to cyberfraud @vijayshekhar

— Vikaas M Sachdeva (@vikaasmsachdeva) November 11, 2019

Sachdeva, who has about 4,946 followers on Twitter, got a response from Paytm Bank Care saying that the refund of Rs 5,520.93 has been added to hit wallet. “Hi Vikaas, this is not the experience we strive to deliver to our customers. We have added the refund of ₹5220.93 to your account under wallet transaction ID 27XXXXXX73 against the transaction at Shree Balaji juice centre,” said the firm. Further, Paytm told Vikaas to check the refund in his wallet history under the Passbook section.

Hi Vikaas, this is not the experience we strive to deliver to our customers. We have added the refund of ₹5220.93 to your account under wallet transaction ID 27XXXXXX73 against the transaction at Shree Balaji juice centre. (1/2)

— Paytm Bank Care (@paytmbankcare) November 12, 2019

Please check the same in your wallet history under the Passbook section. Thanks! (2/2)
https://t.co/BEb65hbuSF

— Paytm Bank Care (@paytmbankcare) November 12, 2019

Thank you @Paytmcare @vijayshekhar . You will realize though, that there is a larger issue at hand. I would like to know how this fraud took place…as you can see, a lot people have spoken up and they are equally worried. I would like to see a RCA done and shared with me https://t.co/cECe9pVrKD

— Vikaas M Sachdeva (@vikaasmsachdeva) November 12, 2019

Sachdeva has about 4,946 followers on the micro-blogging site. While the amount has been refunded to his wallet, Sachdeva has asked Paytm to share how the fraud took place. “As you can see, a lot people have spoken up and they are equally worried. I would like to see a RCA done and shared with me,” he said on Twitter. Financial Express Online has also independently sought response from Paytm on this issue. According to experts, there should be more safeguards amid technological disruption. “The issue is new age requirements are being governed by age-old rules. There should be a grievance redressal mechanism in place,” a financial services professional told Financial Express Online on the condition of anonymity.