Scammers are back with a new trickery of creating e-challans in the name of the police and Motor Vehicles department (MVD) to elicit banking details of their preys and loot their accounts.
Messages are now being sent to the targeted individuals’ phones prompting them to click on a link for compounding the offences falsely created against them.
With heightened road enforcement activities using AI-powered cameras, many are not even doubting such fraud e-challans. When they attempt to make the payment using the links attached with the messages, the bank account details get hacked.
The scammers are now using a fake challan number and the registration number of various vehicles to dupe their prey citing traffic rule violations. Messages are drafted in such a way as to create the impression that these are sent by enforcement squads. As most of the messages carry vehicle numbers, only few doubt the intention.
“I got the e-challan in the form of an SMS in the name of Malappuram police. I was really surprised as I had not used my vehicle anywhere in Malappuram district. The trickery came to light when I called one of my friends to make the payment online,” said K. Jineesh, a native of Kottuli. He said he would have made payment instantly if he had used his vehicle anywhere in Malappuram district.
According to police sources, complaints are on the rise against the new online scam operated by fraudsters outside the State. The best way is to ignore such fake messages as no enforcement wings will send such half-baked messages with no options for further verifications, they added.
Motor Vehicles department officials pointed out that one will have to take extreme caution while entering their banking details into any misleading portals created in the name of the government.
“Before trying to make any payment by clicking on such links, one can easily check the approved portals of police and MVD about the details of alleged offences by giving the challan number. If charges are real, the complete details will be there on the official portal,” said a senior Motor Vehicles department official in the city. He also pointed out that complaints should be registered with the police if anyone was cheated in such trickeries.
