Meghalaya Police today warned the public of a new ‘smishing’ scam run by cyber criminals using good old SMSs, or text messages.
According to a press release by Assistant Inspector General of Police SR Marak today, the fraudsters send out SMSs concerning fake violations to do with traffic, municipal regulations or even Covid-19 lockdown. These messages direct the public to pay the fine online by impersonating the government.
The fraudsters fake online credentials, i.e. government email addresses, government website or payment gateway IDs. They usually use payment gateways such as Google Pay, Phone Pe or Paytm.
“Due to Covid-19 restrictions, various government offices have relied on the internet to reach citizens, which has increased the vulnerability against recent cybercrimes,” Marak said. “These smishing campaigns are intended to defraud citizens of their hard-earned money.”
Therefore, the police strongly advised the public to be vigilant before making any upfront payment to an unknown person claiming to be a government official or entity.
“Do not reply to unknown SMSs and avoid clicking on unknown/suspicious links. Pay attention to URLs to check credibility of the website and check through other government websites or call the concerned department to verify the same. If you are a victim of such crime, you can report the matter at your nearest police station or submit your complaint at the website www.cybercrime.gov.in,” Marak added.
