In a twist worthy of a comedy sketch, Paytm’s founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma found himself at the receiving end of an amateur scam attempt — from a fraudster claiming to be him.
Sharma shared the hilarious incident on social media platform X, posting screenshots of a WhatsApp conversation where the impersonator, using Sharma’s name and photo, kicked off the conversation with the straight-faced opener: “Are you in the company now?”
Rather than blocking the number, Sharma decided to play along. The fake “Vijay Shekhar Sharma” quickly got down to business — asking Sharma to check Paytm’s company funds and send over a screenshot. “Tum company ke accounts check karke batao ki company ke available funds kitney hey?” the message read.
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Keeping a poker face, Sharma responded like a dutiful employee. He claimed he wasn’t in finance and directed the imposter to reach out to the accounts team. When asked for their contact, Sharma offered up a generic landline number, then innocently followed up: “Aage kya karu?” (What should I do next?)
The scammer, undeterred, pushed forward. Next came an attachment: a shady-looking .exe file labeled “GSTSuvidha-Signed(7).exe.” Sharma was asked to forward it to the finance head — supposedly to process something related to GST filings.
Playing dumb (but sharp), Sharma responded that the file wouldn’t open — Windows flagged it as suspicious. He added, quite cheekily, that their finance team doesn’t even use Windows systems.
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Frustration crept in. The scammer snapped, insisting, “Arrey pagal, ye videos nahi hey, ye file hey,” and even accused Sharma of acting like a lazy middleman delaying their “important task.”
Then came Sharma’s most savage reply — “सर, मेरा सैलरी का देख लीजिए। हमारा अभी तक बढ़ा ही नहीं है 🙏🏻” — a tongue-in-cheek jab about his salary not being raised yet. Completely oblivious, the scammer fired back angrily, still under the impression they were scolding a junior staffer: “Abhi taak tum mujhye wk number nahi dey aur tum mujhse expect karte ho ki tumhhari mey salary increase.”
The scam collapsed into absurdity, but not before delivering a lesson in cybercrime irony: if you’re going to impersonate someone, make sure it’s not the person you’re actually messaging.
