Knowledge Center

Personal finance, explained in plain English - no jargon, no fluff. Every guide is dated so you know it's current, and every one ends with a way to ask Laalaji about your own numbers.

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Card Skimming Card skimming uses a hidden device (at an ATM or point-of-sale terminal) to copy your card's data when it's used, often paired with a hidden camera to capture your PIN - enabling a cloned card to be used fraudulently later. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Chargeback A chargeback reverses a card payment through your bank/card network, used to dispute an unauthorized transaction or a legitimate merchant dispute - a real recourse mechanism worth knowing about, distinct from a UPI transaction, which generally has no equivalent reversal mechanism once completed. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Credit Freeze A credit freeze restricts access to your credit report until you formally lift it, preventing a fraudster from taking a loan or credit card in your name using stolen identity details - available in India through each credit bureau individually. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Digital Arrest Scam A 'digital arrest' scam involves a caller impersonating police or a regulator, claiming you're under investigation and must stay on a video call and transfer money to 'prove innocence' - a real, well-documented scam pattern, not a genuine legal procedure. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Fake Investment App A fake investment app mimics a real trading/investment platform's look and feel while having no genuine connection to any regulated exchange or broker - money deposited goes directly to the scammer, often with a fabricated dashboard showing fake, growing 'returns.' Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Identity Theft Identity theft uses your personal information - PAN, Aadhaar, bank details - without your consent, often to open fraudulent accounts, take loans in your name, or file false claims, with the real damage sometimes surfacing only much later. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Loan App Fraud Unregulated instant-loan apps often extract excessive personal data permissions at installation, then use that access for harassment-based recovery tactics far beyond what any regulated lender is permitted to do. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Malware-Based Banking Fraud Malicious apps disguised as legitimate software can silently capture banking credentials, intercept OTP SMS messages, or log keystrokes - infection commonly happens through installing an app from outside official app stores. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Money Mule A money mule is someone who unknowingly or knowingly allows their bank account to be used to transfer proceeds of fraud - even an unwitting participant can face serious legal consequences, not just the actual scammer. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) 1930 is India's dedicated national helpline for reporting financial cyber fraud, designed to coordinate quickly with banks to freeze fraudulently transferred funds before they're withdrawn - speed in reporting matters more than almost anything else. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
OTP Fraud OTP fraud tricks you into sharing a one-time password over a call, message, or fake form - the OTP itself is real, but sharing it hands a scammer the exact authorization needed to complete a transaction on your account. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Phishing Phishing is a fraudulent email or message designed to look like it's from a legitimate institution, tricking you into clicking a malicious link or entering credentials on a fake site. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Ponzi Scheme A Ponzi scheme pays existing investors using money from new investors, not from any genuine underlying business activity or investment return - it collapses once new money stops flowing in fast enough to pay earlier promises. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Pyramid Scheme A pyramid scheme's actual product is recruiting new participants, not selling anything of independent value - each new member pays to join, and money flows upward to earlier recruiters, collapsing once new recruitment slows. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Romance/Investment Scam (Pig Butchering) This scam builds a long-term romantic or friendly relationship online purely to eventually introduce a fraudulent investment opportunity, exploiting weeks or months of built trust before the actual financial ask ever appears. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Screen-Sharing Scam A screen-sharing scam convinces a victim to install a remote-access app - often under the guise of tech support - giving the scammer live visibility (and sometimes control) of the victim's device while banking apps are open. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
SIM Swap Fraud SIM swap fraud tricks or bribes a telecom provider into transferring your phone number to a SIM card the fraudster controls, giving them access to your OTPs and effectively hijacking your digital banking identity. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) Two-factor authentication requires a second, independent proof of identity beyond just a password - typically an OTP or app-based approval - meaning a stolen password alone isn't enough for a fraudster to access your account. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
UPI Fraud UPI fraud almost always exploits user trust or confusion, not a flaw in UPI itself - fake collect requests, QR code tricks, and screen-sharing scams are the common patterns, not a hacked UPI system. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety
Vishing Vishing is phishing conducted over a phone call rather than email or SMS - a scammer posing as a bank official, government agent, or tech support, pressuring an immediate action over voice. Fraud Protection & Financial Safety