Can Request to Pay be used for fraud?

Yes, fake requests are a known risk. India stopped peer-to-peer UPI collect requests in October 2025 for this reason. Safe Request to Pay services verify who can send requests, show the payee's verified name, and let payers decline easily.

How fraudsters use requests

• Sending a request that looks like a refund or prize, so the victim approves a payment instead of receiving money.
• Posing as a known company and requesting payment of a fake invoice.
• Flooding users with requests in the hope that some get approved by mistake.

Safeguards that help

• Only verified, onboarded businesses can send requests.
• The payer sees the verified name of the payee, not just a display name.
• Clear wording that approving a request means paying.
• Limits on amounts and frequency of requests.
• Easy blocking and reporting of senders.

The role of name checks

In the EU, Verification of Payee checks the name against the IBAN for transfers, which reduces some types of misdirected payments, but users still need to read what they approve.

What it means for payment operators

If you enable merchants to send payment requests, onboarding is your first defense: only verified businesses should be able to request money. KYB checks, document review and monitoring of request patterns keep the channel trustworthy.