It seems like the popular caller ID app, Truecaller has a new bug which is creating UPI accounts without the user’s consent. Many users recently reported the issue on Twitter and Play Store stating that as soon as they updated the app to its latest version, the app sent an encrypted message from their smartphone which created a UPI account with ICICI Bank. At the time of writing this article there is no official news from app developers about the issue.
Dheeraj Kumar, a truecaller user wrote a tweet about how the app sent an encrypted SMS to an unknown user which created a UPI account.
I woke up and checked my android phone, which auto-updated a few apps, including @Truecaller . It automatically, immediately sent an encrypted SMS from my phone to an unknown number, following which @ICICIBank sent me a sms …
— Dheeraj Kumar (@codepodu) July 30, 2019
Neelkamal and Raj Kapur along with popular tech blogger Amit Bhawani tweeted and raised the same issue.
@Truecaller
— Neelkamal (@NeelkamalGilani) July 30, 2019
Dear Truecaller without my permission how can u register my bank for UPI.
This is totally unauthorized step you did.@CyberDost pls look into this.
@TruecallerHelp @Truecaller latest Android version 10.41.6 automatically sends SMS from my SIM to register my UPI Bank A/C to Truecaller pay without my consent the moment I updated to the latest version of the app.
— Raj Kapur (@rajkapur44) July 30, 2019
This is quite unacceptable & serious breach of privacy policy.
Just wondering why is @Truecaller trying to link with my @ICICIBank UPI without my approval.
— Amit Bhawani (@amitbhawani) July 30, 2019
They have already been forcing users to use their SMS option but this is getting extreme. Anyone noticed the app trying to verify UPI? @NPCI_NPCI
PS: I’m a @Truecaller premium user. pic.twitter.com/zIG6yBXiG4
What you can do?
As users are reporting, the latest version of this app is creating the problem, so we suggest you to turn off the auto-update feature till the issue gets resolved or disable the app completely.
