Rajasthan Police Warns: How Fake Traffic Challans Are Stealing Your Money

Additional Director General of Police (Cyber Crime), Vijay Kumar Singh, said that fraudsters are sending deceptive messages from non-government numbers, claiming that recipients have pending traffic violation fines.

ADG Singh explained that these messages pressure recipients into making immediate payments with warnings such as: "Reminder: Outstanding traffic violation fine. Pay immediately to avoid extra penalties or legal action."

He said that the SMS includes a fake link, and once the user clicks on it and attempts payment, there is a high risk of their bank account being compromised.

He added that the Cyber Crime Branch has issued guidelines to help citizens recognise fraudulent websites.

"Scammers often create domains that closely resemble government websites--for example, using govt.in instead of gov.in, or inc.in instead of nic.in. Authentic government portals typically use .gov.in, .nic.in, or .org.in domains. Sudden pop-up messages urging users to click for payments or special schemes are also a strong indication of fraud," he said.

He further added that the department has urged the public not to click on links received through SMS from unknown numbers.

"Citizens are advised never to share banking passwords, OTPs, or personal details with anyone, nor to call the numbers provided in such suspicious messages," he said.

He said that police have always emphasised that cyber awareness remains the strongest defence against such scams.

"If you encounter fraud or receive a suspicious message, take prompt action," he said.

He said that report such incidents by calling the cyber helpline 1930, or contact the cyber help desk at 9256001930 / 9257510100.

"Complaints can also be filed via the national cybercrime reporting portal https://cybercrime.gov.in or at the nearest police station/cyber police station," he said.

- IANS