Viral video shows boy scanning FASTag to steal money, 'fake', says expert as Paytm issues clarification

After the video went viral on social media, Paytm issued a clarification regarding the safety of its FASTag.

Hyderabad:A video claiming that money can be stolen from FASTag stickers affixed to a car has been trashed by Paytm. In the video, a boy cleaning the windshield of a car is apparently seen scanning the FASTag with his 'smartwatch'. The video tries to establish that it is a way to steal money from the stickers. The person in the video claims that it was a new scam and that he had faced it multiple times before.

After the video went viral on social media, Paytm issued a clarification regarding the safety of its FASTag. "A video is spreading misinformation about Paytm FASTag that incorrectly shows a smartwatch scanning FASTag. As per NETC guidelines, FASTag payments can be initiated only by authorised merchants, onboarded after multiple rounds of testing. Paytm FASTag is completely safe & secure," Paytm tweeted.

The video was also debunked by several other people including ethical hacker Sunny Nehra. "A FASTag scam video is viral showing a kid using a watch to scan a FASTag to deduct money. It’s FAKE video - scripted & conceptually wrong. Fastag payments can only be made to FastTAG approved merchants which are licensed toll operators with the unique identifier issued by NHAI," Nehra tweeted.

Questioning the logic behind the video, he asked" ..."Was it so easy why would not someone simply use a drone in some parking area and siphon off big amounts in bulk (from all vehicles there). Please don’t make any such fake, misguiding videos just for sake of views," he said.