Click on 'Challan' link costs man 4L

According to the police, the complainant got a message from an unidentified number that was identified as "NextGen mParivahan" and included a URL that seemed to be connected to the ministry of transportation.

The man downloaded the application, but no details about the challan appeared. He soon discovered questionable activity on his e-commerce account. Later, he received an email alert stating that his e-wallet password had been changed. His registered email address was changed to an unknown address without permission in a matter of minutes.

He then began receiving SMS alerts from several banks about five high-value credit card transactions made on the online shopping platform. He wouldn't have started any of these. According to investigators, the fraudster bought e-gift cards valued at about Rs 4,05,000 using the complainant's saved card information. The cards were then sent digitally to the scammer's email address. A case was filed under BNS Section 318(4) (cheating) last month after the victim submitted a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Police said similar cases have been reported recently. An elderly man in east Delhi lost Rs 2.5 lakh last month after clicking on a phony link that purported to be a Rs 500 challan.

Officers cautioned that as scammers take advantage of WhatsApp-based challan warnings, these types of scams are becoming more common. SMS, WhatsApp, and even PDFs are used to send messages that frequently pose as transportation officials and urge recipients to pay fines right away. Many connect visitors to phony payment portals intended to steal banking credentials while omitting crucial information such the notice number, car number, or offense location. Police have encouraged people to only use the official Parivahan portal to verify challans and to avoid clicking on links, QR codes, or payment requests from unfamiliar numbers.

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