Increasing fake e-challan Scam

The govt has warned on increasing fake e-challan scam in the country. The scammers send a text message to your phone that closely remembers e-challan alerts.

The text message is appears to be from the traffic police and informing citizens of a traffic violation that requires a fine payment. These messages contain a link and a message urging the recipient to settle the fine. By clicking on the links, some users unknowingly give cybercriminals access to their mobile devices.

According to police, scammers have meticulously copied the format used by traffic authorities. However, a close examination can help us spot the trap. Now the scammers have now trapping unsuspecting citizens by using the e-challan payments. According to Meena, scammers are creating and sending fake messages that look like traffic challan. However, it is completely deceptive. This fake site prompts users for personal and financial details to process the fine. By clicking on these deceptive links, some users inadvertently give cybercriminals access to their mobile devices. Once they gain access, these crooks can quickly empty bank accounts or deplete debit/credit card funds.

The genuine e-challan messages will have information like vehicle-specific details like engine and chassis numbers. The scammers tweak the government website in such a way that it can be deceptive to users. The genuine and original link of the e-challan website is: https://echallan.parivahan.gov.in/. Scammers slyly remove".gov" to make it appear as https://echallan.parivahan.in/. It is essential for every citizen to ensure that the payment link ends with ".gov.in" so that they do not get scammed.

According to senior cyber police officers, vehicle owners must check such messages carefully before clicking on any link. A key way to identify real messages is that they will have details of your vehicle, its engine number and chassis number. Such information will not be on SMS traps sent by scammers. Another precaution could be to visit the official government website to check if you have actually been fined. Also, an e-challan alert will never come from a cellphone number.

S Mohini Ratna, Editor, VARINDIA