Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma recently encountered an alleged scammer who tried to impersonate him to acquire sensitive company information. The impostor asked him numerous questions about the company’s funds and the contact details of the finance head of the company. The reason the scammer presented was that his phone was being formatted, so he did not have anyone’s number.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma shared the humorous exchange of his conversation with a scammer who was impersonating him
The Paytm chief took to the social media platform X to share screenshots of his conversation with the alleged scammer, writing a post titled “Impersonating myself to me”. Sharma shared screenshots of the chain of WhatsApp messages in which the scammer introduced himself as Vijay Shekhar Sharma and asked the real Vijay Shekhar Sharma to save his “new” phone number. The fraudster even asked the real Sharma whether he was in the office.
The Paytm CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, played along
In the course of the hilarious conversation, the impostor asked Mr. Sharma to check and report back the details of the company’s available funds. He also asked for a screenshot of the account books.
The impersonator also asked Sharma to share the number and contact details of the finance head of the company. The scammer even asked Sharma to forward a suspicious .exe file, disguised as a GST document, to the finance executive.
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The last message from the screenshots from the real Mr. Sharma shows him asking for a salary hike.
Here is the hilarious exchange of the person impersonating Paytm chief Vijay Shekhar Sharma and the real Mr. Sharma
Impersonating myself to me 🥸 pic.twitter.com/OtT63fKZU1
— Vijay Shekhar Sharma (@vijayshekhar) May 21, 2025
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Here is how netizens reacted to this scam
Netizens found the exchange hilarious, with many demanding a part 2 of the exchange with the scammer. Some even praised the Paytm CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, for handling the situation so calmly and wittily.
Haha… I want to see part 2 🙂
— Deepak Shenoy (@deepakshenoy) May 21, 2025
Body double rakh lo. 😂
— Ravi Handa (@ravihanda) May 21, 2025
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😂😂 10/10 for confidence
— Sumit Gupta (CoinDCX) (@smtgpt) May 21, 2025
Vijay speaking to Vijay.
Madness of multiverse 😃
— Adithya Thatipalli (@adi_thatipalli) May 21, 2025
kya scammer banega re ye 😂
— Mehul Fanawala (@MehulFanawala) May 21, 2025
Ngl, gotta respect the hustle. 🫡
— Palak Zatakia (@palakzat) May 21, 2025
Vijay texting Vijay
— Nimit Jain (@jainnimit) May 21, 2025
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VSS to VSS… pic.twitter.com/0zIMtX7mw5
— vivan. (@VivanVatsa) May 21, 2025
The encounter highlights the risky side of the digital world, where susceptible individuals are targeted by scammers using fake profiles, advanced techniques, malicious links, impersonation, etc.
On Wednesday, the Telecom Department introduced the ‘Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)’. It enables enhanced intelligence sharing with banks, UPI service providers, and financial institutions. It is expected to help in tackling cyber scams and financial crimes.
Have you ever faced a scammer or been scammed before? Share your story in the comments below to help us spread awareness against digital scams.
