Beware! Karachi Traffic Police warn citizens of sham e-challan SMS scam

The Karachi Traffic Police have warned citizens about a surge in fraudulent SMS messages falsely claiming to be official traffic challans. 

The department said the texts are "misleading" and have no connection with any government office or platform.

The Karachi Traffic Police on Monday issued a public warning about a surge in fraudulent SMS messages falsely claiming to be official traffic challans and directing payments via EasyPaisa.

Sharing the alert on its official social media account, the department wrote: “Some fraudulent elements have been sending false SMS messages to citizens regarding traffic challan payments through EasyPaisa. These messages are fake, misleading, and fraudulent.”

Officials stressed that the Traffic Police do not send challan notifications from personal mobile numbers.

In a follow-up post, the force stressed: “These have no connection with Karachi Traffic Police or any government department.” It further clarified: “Karachi Traffic Police do not send SMS from personal numbers to any individual for challan payments.”

The advisory urged residents to ignore such messages and avoid transferring money via unknown links or private accounts: “Citizens are requested not to believe such suspicious messages and not to make any payment to any unauthorised link or number.”

It also reminded motorists to safeguard their data and use official channels to verify fines: “Keep your personal information secure, and in case of any difficulty, contact the Traffic Police helpline.”