Paytm probing the cashback fraud at arm, says Vijay Shekhar Sharma

MUMBAI/BENGALURU: Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma confirmed on Tuesday that the firm is investigating a cashback fraud at Paytm Mall, the online marketplace unit of the group backed by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Japan’s Softbank.
Sharma’s comment comes after TOI reported on Monday saying audit major Ernst & Young (EY) was hired to conduct a probe into the fraud in the e-commerce business of Paytm. As a precaution, going forward, the company is now looking to on-board only authorised vendors in the light of cashback pilferage as it increases focus on its online-tooffline(O2O) model.
The Noida-based firm has also fired around 10 employees so far. On Monday, TOI reported how Paytm Mall staff colluded with third-party vendors to orchestrate a flow of fake orders to pocket cashbacks. “Earlier, I was OK with a seller from Gaffar market to sell an iPhone, but now we only want Apple authorised sellers on the platform.