A national payments corporation of India and Paytm have said that there is no way a smartwatch can scan a FASTag or siphon money from it, and that the video has been circulated widely on social media and has caused alarm in many circles.
NPCI, the organisation enabling digital payments and settlement systems in India, said that the claims in the video, which show a child cleaning a windshield, scanning the FASTag using a smartwatch and then running away when questioned are baseless and false. Paytm said it was misinformation.
The video clip, widely shared on different social media platforms, has amassed lakhs of views, shares and comments on multiple YouTube channels, Facebook and Twitter.
A voiceover in Hindi brings home the point: This is the new scam that has started now. The kids begging at traffic lights are given smartwatches with scanners embedded in them. They pointed out their smartwatch towards the FASTag, and it e-scans your FASTag while cleaning the car. The money is deducted from your Paytm account. The same happened to me before. The 3.42 minute clip has no attribution.
It received a total of 1.5 lakh views and 11,000 shares.
FASTag, a radio frequency identification technology, is an electronic toll collection system that is mandatory for all commercial and personal four-wheelers for payments at toll plazas since February last year.
NPCI discussed the larger issue of fake claims while Paytm discussed only the child video in its rebuttal.
A video has spread misinformation about Paytm FASTag, which incorrectly shows a smartwatch scanning FASTag. FASTag payments can only be initiated by authorised merchants after multiple rounds of testing, as per the NETC guidelines. Paytm FASTag is completely secure, according to Paytm's Twitter post.
The NPCI has a long Twitter post describing its point of view, describing 'FASTag Scam' videos doing the rounds as baseless and false.
It said the National Electronic Toll Collection NETC FASTag ecosystem was built on a four-party model - NPCI, Acquirer Bank, Issuer Bank and Toll Plazas. Several layers of security protocols are placed to ensure the end-to- end safe processing of transactions, it said.
NETC FASTag only works for Person to Merchant P 2 M transactions. The transaction from Person to Person P 2 P is facilitated through the NETC FASTag network. It added that an individual can't get the money from NETC FASTag ecosystem because of fraudulent transactions.
The claim in a video that smartwatches with scanner embedded in them are siphoning money from FASTags is false.