Police warn public of fake traffic fine SMS scam

Colombo, July 13 (Daily Mirror) - Police have warned the public about a phishing scam in which fraudsters are sending fake SMS messages claiming to be from the Sri Lanka Police, informing motorists of alleged unpaid traffic fines for speeding offences.

According to the police, the messages contain malicious links that direct recipients to fraudulent websites designed to resemble the Government's official GovPay payment portal. The fake websites are intended to steal users' personal and banking information by convincing them to make online payments.

The public has been reminded that the official GovPay platform can only be accessed through govpay.lk or govpay.lk/en/, and that legitimate government websites end with the official .gov.lk domain. Police cautioned that scam links often contain suspicious web addresses that do not follow official government website formats.

They urged public to exercise caution by verifying website addresses before entering personal or financial information and to avoid clicking on links received through unsolicited SMS messages. They also advised users to delete suspicious messages immediately to protect themselves from financial fraud.