As online shopping, gifting and payments gather pace, Quick Heal Technologies Limited explains how brief verification can stop festive fraud
Diwali shopping no longer begins at the market. It starts with a notification: a limited-period sale, a delivery update, an event invitation or a cashback offer. Most are genuine. Yet, amid the rush to complete purchases and send gifts, cybercriminals are making fraudulent messages difficult to distinguish from everyday digital communication.
The danger is not confined to an obviously suspicious email. A scam may arrive as an advertisement for an unfamiliar store, a WhatsApp message about an undelivered parcel, a call from someone claiming to represent a bank, or a QR code offering an instant refund. The story changes, but the intention remains the same: to make the recipient act before checking.
When familiarity becomes bait
Festive fraud succeeds because it borrows familiar names, situations and emotions. A fake shopping website may reproduce a trusted brand’s colours and product images. A message about reward points may appear just as consumers are making several transactions. A counterfeit courier alert can feel credible when multiple orders are already on the way. Fraudsters are increasingly using artificial intelligence to improve the language, timing and personal relevance of such approaches, removing many of the spelling mistakes and awkward phrases that once made phishing easier to recognise.
This means consumers must evaluate more than how professional a message looks. A polished design, correct logo or personalised greeting does not prove authenticity. The more useful questions are:
● Did I initiate this interaction?
● Does the domain exactly match the company’s official address?
● Why am I being hurried?
● Is anyone asking me to share an OTP, enter a UPI PIN, or download an app?
● IS someone trying to move the conversation away from an official platform?
“Festive scams are becoming harder to identify because fraudsters are no longer relying only on generic messages. They are using AI, leaked information and behavioural cues to create communication that feels timely and personal. The strongest defence is to interrupt the urgency on which these scams depend. Pause, verify the source independently and complete payments only through a brand’s official website or app. Technology can detect many warning signs, but an informed user who refuses to be rushed adds a crucial layer of protection,” said Harish Kumar G S, Chief Executive Officer, Quick Heal Technologies Limited.
The moments that need attention
Consider the following scenarios:
● A consumer sees a social-media advertisement and lands on a lookalike store
● A shopper searching for customer support calls a fraudulent number displayed online
● A supposed delivery executive asks for an OTP to “confirm” an address
● A seller claims that a payment failed and sends a QR code for a refund
In each of these situations, the scammer attempts to shift trust from a recognised brand or routine activity to an unverified channel under their control.
Consumers should, therefore, abide by some key digital safety measures, such as:
● Reaching businesses through bookmarked websites, verified applications or contact details published on official pages
● Reading the URLs carefully, especially where letters have been replaced, added or rearranged
● Downloading applications should come only from official app stores
● Refusing requests to install files received through messages
● Checking the recipient’s name and amount before approving a UPI payment
● Understanding and remembering that a UPI PIN authorises money leaving an account; it is not required to receive a payment.
● Regularly updating operating systems, browsers and applications
● Enabling multi-factor authentication wherever available
● Using unique passwords for shopping, email and financial accounts
● Paying attention to transaction alerts as they can reveal unauthorised activity quickly
● Enabling payment limits to reduce exposure
Quick Heal AntiFraud.AI is designed to complement these habits with features including scam-link protection, fraud-call alerts, suspicious-app detection, secure-payment checks and dark-web monitoring. As one of the leading global providers of cybersecurity solutions, the company firmly believes that modern fraud protection must address both malicious technology and the manipulation of human trust.
If something goes wrong
Anyone who suspects fraud should stop further communication, contact the bank or payment provider through an official channel and secure affected accounts. Passwords should be changed from a trusted device, unknown applications removed and relevant messages, phone numbers, screenshots and transaction details preserved as evidence. Financial cyber fraud can be reported through India’s National Cyber Crime Helpline at 1930 and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal at cybercrime.gov.in.
Diwali should reward anticipation, not haste. The safest festive shopper is not the person who avoids digital convenience, but the one who treats every unexpected offer, payment request and urgent message as a reason to pause. A moment spent verifying the source can protect money, personal information and the joy of the celebration.
