Social media was abuzz with warnings on Saturday about scammers exploiting the “Collect Request” service provided by the InstaPay application, which allows users to send a request to receive an amount from another user.
If the recipient confirms, the first party receives the money.
Although the service is practical for many, and its purpose is to facilitate the process of sending money to others, some fraudsters have begun exploiting the feature to scam victims out of their money.
These warnings sparked controversy among InstaPay users.
The service is primarily intended to recover money that was sent by mistake, or amounts owed by which the creditor reminds the debtor such as rent, collections, advances, or other matters.
Social media users reported that scammers are abusing the “Collect Request” feature by sending requests to random accounts, asking them to send a sum of money, taking advantage of some people’s lack of awareness of modern technologies or their good intentions.
Users fall into the trap by confirming the request without focusing on the consequences, and end up being scammed out of their money.
Several users posted screenshots explaining that they had been exposed to this scam, and asked for advice on how to recover the money.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
