A new scam has made its way into the market, and this time it is targeting those who drive a bike or a car. Scammers are blasting out fake SMS messages about traffic fines, pretending to be from the official Parivahan website. Here is everything you need to know about this new way of scamming the innocent and how to keep yourself safe.
Fake Parivahan challan
This time, scammers are tricking people into clicking on the shared link over SMS and stealing the personal or bank details of the user.
SMS chalaan from random number: You might get an SMS from a random number, which usually starts with the +91 country code. The message says that you broke a traffic rule and demands you pay a fine right away, or else face legal trouble. The scammers are sending a link attached to the message that looks almost like the real government portal – but it’s not. Rather, it is a trap.
DO NOT TAP ON THE LINK IN SMS
The scammers use a fake link with a name like ‘Prairvahsan’, which is close enough to ‘Parivahan’ – though the structure is the same, it may fool people who are not paying close attention.
- If you are in a hurry, you might not notice the difference, but there is!
- That is exactly what these cybercriminals look forward to- urgency and busy users.
- If you click on the shared link, you may risk your details – handing over your login info, saved card details or even opening your phone to malware.
- At times, it goes straight to unauthorised bank transactions.
So what should you do if you get a Prairvahsan SMS on your number?
- First, do not click the link, no matter how urgent it sounds.
- Block and report the number right away, then delete the message.
- Do not reply; do not call back.
If you are genuinely worried, you might have a real traffic fine; then check for yourself on the official Parivahan website or at your local RTO. Take the time to manually browse the government site rather than clicking on any unknown link.
How to be safe?
To protect yourself from such fraud, you must never trust traffic fine alerts that come through SMS, WhatsApp, or social media.
Always double-check fines on government portals. Go old school, and manually prefer to go to your RTO, check with the link, and verify your challan number, which is being shared in the SMS.
Remember, your slight negligence may cost you a fortune. Beware!
