Jaipur: Around 9.30am on a weekday Jagatpura resident Amit Chauhan received an SMS with a website link. The message states “Your vehicle has detected violating traffic laws via camera on Dec 21.
Please take the required step to settle this.” A worried Chauhan clicked the link attached and a page option with the option to fill in either the chassis number or the registration number of his vehicle.
As he typed the registration number and clicked the OK button on that page, another page cropped up mentioning the vehicle number, type of fine as over speeding and a fine amount of Rs 500. Chauhan did not think twice and made the payment through his debit card. “Later, I realized that Dec 21 was a Sunday and I was at home the whole day. There were only two options to make payment – either a debit or a credit card. I went to the DCP traffic office at the Yadgarh where I was being informed that the message was fake,” Chauhan stated. Officials from the cybercrime department of the Jaipur police stated that recently there is a surge in this type of case in Jaipur and elsewhere across the state. Although the fines range from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000, these links may install malware on users’ devices and compromise their card information for future unauthorized transactions. “There have been cases where users’ handsets got compromised owing to malware viruses. Even there are reports where fraudsters have used the card details to make transactions,” an official stated. Speaking to TOI, Vijay Kumar Singh, additional director general (Law and Order) of Rajasthan Police, stated that earlier the state police had taken stern actions against these fraudsters on multiple occasions, but the crime had propelled again.
“Awareness is the key to such fraud cases. Motorists or vehicles owners must check the website link sent with the messages. Links sent by fraudsters won’t mention “gov”. All genuine traffic fines in Rajasthan must be checked either through the e-challan parivahan portal of the govt of India,” stated Singh, who had earlier served as ADG for both the traffic and cybercrime departments. The different regional transport offices in Rajasthan and traffic departments of all the districts and Commissionerate across the state have also issued advisory to make residents aware about this type of crime.
