Truecaller bug automatically signed up thousands of Indian users for UPI without permission

In a nightmare for thousands of Truecaller users in India, a so-called bug automatecally created their Unified Payments Interface (UPI) accounts with the ICICI Bank without their consent, triggering panic and hacking fears.

The affected users received an SMS from ICICI Bank — starting from late Monday evening till morning hours on Tuesday — saying “your registration for UPI app has started. If it was not you, report now to your bank. Do not share card details/OTP/CVV with anyone to avoid financial loss”.

The message was enough to scare some users who immediately approached the ICICI Bank customer care, blocking their netbanking and debit cards.