CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Traffic Police (GCTP) on Thursday warned the public about the e-challan scam in India, which is a new cybercrime that targets vehicle owners by sending them fake e-challan messages with malicious links.
The scammers use these links to hack the victims’ bank accounts and steal their money.
The GCTP clarified that the fake link does not have the “.gov.in” suffix, such as "echallan.parivahan.in".
The scammers may also use fake phone numbers or email addresses to contact the victims and ask them to pay the fine or face legal action.
The fake e-challan messages look very similar to the real ones, but they have a different payment link.
If anyone receives a suspicious e-challan message, they should report it to the cybercrime cell of their local police station or report at cybercrime.gov.in, a message from GCTP said.
To avoid falling for this scam, the vehicle owners should always check the authenticity of the e-challan message before clicking on any link or making any payment.
They can verify the details of the challan on the official website, the GCTP added.