SMS pretending to be E-Challan
A very concerning thing just happened to me.
A few days ago, I received a text message from the number 8070 claiming that I had an e-challan of PKR 500 along with a link to a website. Over the next 5 days, I kept receiving the same type of message repeatedly.
Today, I received another message from 15(Official Helpline) saying:
“FINAL WARNING: Unpaid traffic fines. Case pending court referral. Please clear your dues immediately. Please visit: websitelink
For queries, contact CTPL Helpline 15.”
The message scared me enough to open the link, only to discover that it led to a phishing website which was immediately blocked by my browser.
One of the most common phishing tactics is to scare people into acting quickly using threats such as “court referral” or “pay immediately.” What shocked me the most was that these messages appeared to be coming from official-looking numbers like 15(official helpline) and 8070.
I checked the previous messages I had received and noticed that the links were different every time, which made things even more suspicious.
(Avoid clicking these links!)
https ://echalilen-pk. com/kzhttps: //echallan-psca. com/kzhttps ://echallen-pk. com/kzhttps ://psca -echallan.c om/kz
I also checked the official e-challan websites myself and found no such challan against me.
If these phishing messages are somehow being sent through or spoofing official helpline numbers, then this is a very serious issue. Many people, especially elderly users, could easily panic and fall victim to these scams.
I strongly urge the relevant authorities to investigate this matter immediately.