SMS says your vehicle has an unpaid traffic fine — the link leads to a fake payment portal
An SMS warns your vehicle has a pending traffic challan with a threat of court action. The link opens a fake M-Parivahan portal that harvests your card or banking credentials. Some variants prompt download of an APK that steals OTPs.
Also known as: e-challan phishing, fake traffic fine SMS, fake M-Parivahan portal, challan SMS fraud
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
Call 1930 now- 1 Call 1930 — the national cyber-crime helpline — right now. The sooner you report, the better the chance of freezing the money before it moves.
- 2 Call your bank to freeze the account and block the card immediately. Use the number printed on your card, never a number from the message or caller.
- 3 File a report at cybercrime.gov.in and keep every message, screenshot, and transaction ID.
What to do right now
- 1 Do not click. Check actual challans by typing echallan.parivahan.gov.in directly in your browser — never follow a text link
- 2 If you entered card or net-banking details on the fake site, call your bank's fraud helpline immediately and freeze your card
- 3 If you downloaded and installed an APK from the link, factory-reset your Android device and change all banking passwords from a separate device
- 4 Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).
Red flags
- ⚠ The link is not echallan.parivahan.gov.in — look for lookalike domains like parivahan-challan.in or echallan-pay.com
- ⚠ Legitimate e-challans appear in your DigiLocker or at echallan.parivahan.gov.in — they don't arrive as surprise payment links
- ⚠ The payment portal asks for your full card number, CVV, and OTP — the real government portal never asks for CVV
- ⚠ The SMS creates urgency: 'Pay within 24 hours to avoid court proceedings' or 'vehicle blacklisting'
Known variants
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Fake govt emergency / lockdown APK: WhatsApp PDF claims to be an official govt order and asks recipients to download an official app via link. Link installs OTP-stealing APK. Karnataka saw 190% rise in APK-based fraud in Q1 2026.
Last seen: 5/21/2026
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WhatsApp delivers RTO_Challan.apk or E-Challan_Details.apk directly — no link click needed. After install, the malware intercepts OTPs, empties the bank account, and self-propagates to all WhatsApp contacts. Dehradun victim lost ₹3.6 lakh; CYFIRMA confirmed the campaign in 2026.
Last seen: 6/10/2026
Sources
- I4C — Warning on Fake E-Challan SMS Scam
- Cyble / The420.in — 36+ Fake E-Challan Portals Discovered
- The420.in — WhatsApp Lockdown Scam: Fake Government PDFs and APK Files
- Latestly — War Lockdown Notice PDF on WhatsApp: April Fools Hoax With Malicious APK
- The420.in — RTO E-Challan Scam: Fake APK Files Empty Bank Accounts Within Minutes (2026)
- CYFIRMA — RTO Challan Fraud: Technical Report on APK-Based Financial and Identity Theft
- BOOM Live — Fake 'RTO e-Challan' Message on WhatsApp: A Growing APK Scam