Fake Payment Screenshot Checker

How do scammers create fake GPay/PhonePe screenshots?

Almost none of it involves hacking the app itself. The common pattern: a scammer takes a screenshot of a real (often much smaller, already-completed) payment, opens it in a photo editor or screenshot-annotation app, and retypes the amount and sometimes the time over the original text. Some use free "fake UPI receipt generator" websites that lay out a convincing-looking template with any amount typed in. Because the rest of the screenshot is untouched, the edited numbers almost always sit in a slightly different font, at a slightly different sharpness, than the surrounding text — the exact signal this checker looks for.

The goods are then handed over on the strength of the screenshot alone, before the shopkeeper checks their own UPI app or bank balance — by the time the payment is found missing, the customer is gone.

How this checker works

Everything runs inside your browser tab using Tesseract.js, an open-source OCR engine, plus direct pixel analysis — no screenshot ever leaves your device or touches a server.

1. On-device OCR reads every piece of text on the screenshot: amount, UTR, UPI ID, timestamp, status text, and app name.
2. The amount region's sharpness is measured against the rest of the image (a scale-normalized blur check) to catch pasted-in digits.
3. The UTR is checked for the correct 12-digit format and cross-checked against itself if it appears more than once.
4. The payee's UPI handle (the part after "@") is matched against 95+ known bank/PSP handle patterns.
5. The timestamp is parsed and checked against the current time and the app's usual format — and, for a photo taken with the "Scan with Camera" button, against the photo's own EXIF capture time.
6. The status tick's actual pixel color is matched against each app's official brand color.
7. Image dimensions are checked for signs of aggressive cropping, like a missing status bar.

If your browser can't run on-device OCR (rare — usually a restricted network or a very old browser), the pixel-only checks above still run, and the rest fall back to a "check this by eye" flag instead of a silent, wrong pass.

What is UTR? How to validate a UPI transaction ID

UTR stands for Unique Transaction Reference — a 12-digit numeric code NPCI generates for every single UPI transaction, also called the RRN (Retrieval Reference Number) in banking systems. It's printed on every genuine payment screenshot, usually labeled "UTR", "UPI Ref No.", or "Transaction ID".

What this tool can check, with no external API call: whether the UTR is exactly 12 digits, and whether it's a placeholder pattern that real transactions never produce — all the same digit repeated (000000000000, 111111111111) or the default sample number 123456789012 that free "fake UPI receipt generator" sites ship with. NPCI's live transaction-status lookup is not public — no legitimate tool can call it without a bank/PSP integration agreement, so treat any site that claims to "verify your UTR live against NPCI" with suspicion. A correctly-formatted UTR is a good sign, not proof — the only real confirmation is finding that exact UTR in your own bank statement or UPI app history.

What to do if you received a fake screenshot

• Don't hand over goods or services until the amount reflects in your own bank account or UPI app.
• Ask for a bank statement or UPI app screen recording, not just a screenshot, if the customer insists it's paid.
• Call your bank or check your passbook if there's any doubt before completing the sale.
• Report confirmed fraud immediately to the National Cyber Crime Helpline — call 1930 or file at cybercrime.gov.in.
• Keep the screenshot as evidence and file a police complaint if the amount is significant.

Frequently Asked Questions

More UPI Tools

See the full cluster on the UPI Tools hub — decode a UTR / reference number, check a UPI ID or QR code before you pay, or build a cybercrime complaint if you've already lost money.