Kolkata: Stay cautious the next time you receive an SMS asking you to pay your traffic challan. Check if the link provided to you for payment is genuine, the Kolkata Police warned on Tuesday on all its social media pages.
Kolkata Police, after a ministry of home affairs (MHA) prod, has warned that cyber crooks are sending fake links that are very close to the original payment gateway, thereby duping people into paying up.
"For example, the original link reads: echalan.parivahan.gov.in and not echallanparivahan.in. Subtle changes like this are being introduced in the state or police-provided links," said an officer of the Kolkata Police divisional cyber cell.
The modus operandi of this type of scam, claimed cops, was getting individuals to click on a malicious link for payment of traffic e-challan. To establish the trust of the individual, the fraudulent message is drafted in such a way that it looks real.
The fraudulent message will read something like this: "Your Challan No. is …for vehicle number… having challan amount as Rs 500. For online payment of e-challan visit echallanparivahan.in. You can also contact RTO office for disposal of challan, Regards, RTO."
Once you click on this payment link to pay for the e-challan, you will end up paying the cyber criminals instead of the police in a bid to discharge the traffic e-challan.