scam
Imagine getting a message about a traffic fine and clicking a link, only to lose a huge sum of money. That’s exactly what happened to Arpit Haldar, a 33-year-old private firm employee from Bengaluru. He recently fell victim to a fake traffic challan scam and lost Rs 1.7 lakh. However, his quick thinking helped him recover Rs 80,000. Keep reading to know the full story.
On February 22, around 2 PM, Haldar received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number. The message claimed that his two-wheeler had violated traffic rules on Kammanahalli Main Road. It included a link that appeared to be from the Parivahan portal.
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Since his office was in Kalyan Nagar, close to the mentioned location, he assumed it could be genuine. Though he was aware of frauds involving APK files, he clicked the link, expecting an official challan. The link downloaded an APK file, which didn’t show any traffic violation receipt. Sensing something suspicious, he immediately deleted the file, cleared his cache, and restarted his phone, reports TOI.
Later that night, around 1 AM, he started receiving multiple phone calls. Initially, he ignored them, but as they persisted, he worried about a possible family emergency and answered. Soon after, his phone was flooded with OTPs—around 40 of them—linked to transactions on e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon, along with charges on his credit cards.
The scammers used his money to book four hotel rooms in Delhi, recharge four Delhi Metro cards, top up FASTags, and buy gift cards. Realising what was happening, Haldar immediately contacted the customer care of Flipkart and Amazon to block the unauthorised transactions. Since he acted before the orders were dispatched, he successfully recovered a portion of the lost amount. He also informed his banks and had his cards blocked.
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