PhonePe
PhonePe has been named in 2 documented digital harm incidents. The most common harm domain is Fraud & Financial.
Documented Incidents
275-year-old Florida woman loses $2,400 to Chase Bank and FTC impersonation scam involving gift card fraud
A 75-year-old woman in Manatee County, Florida, lost $2,400 to a scammer who impersonated Chase Bank and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The scam began with a fraudulent email that appeared to be from Chase Bank, claiming an unauthorized Apple Pro charge had occurred. The scammer, posing as a bank representative, instructed her to call a number and then transfer her to a fake FTC line, where she was given a case number and further directions. The scammer then directed her to purchase multiple gift cards from Lowe’s, Walmart, and Winn Dixie, totaling $1,400 in additional losses. After handing over the gift card numbers and PINs, she realized the scam and contacted local media, the FBI, and the real FTC. The FTC reported a 25% increase in fraud losses in 2024, with seniors losing over $2.3 billion to scams.
Senior woman nearly defrauded of $9,000 by AI voice-cloning scam using grandson’s voice on phone call
In 2021, Marilyn Crawford, a senior in Oshawa, Ontario, received a phone call that sounded like her grandson claiming he had been arrested and needed $9,000 for bail. The scammers used AI voice‑cloning technology to mimic her grandson’s voice, a tactic highlighted by recent FinCEN reports. Crawford traveled to a CIBC branch to withdraw the funds, but a bank employee flagged the transaction and a financial advisor contacted her son, preventing the loss. The incident shows how fraudsters harvest personal data from social media to create convincing deep‑fake voice scams targeting older adults.