Police warn public over fake traffic fine scam

By Mangala Pavithrani

Colombo, May 28 (Daily Mirror) - The Sri Lanka Police have issued a special warning to the public over a large-scale scam involving fake traffic fine notices circulated via SMS and WhatsApp messages.

In a statement, the Police Media Division said that several individuals have received messages from unknown phone numbers falsely claiming to be from the Sri Lanka Police. The messages allege that traffic violations were detected through CCTV cameras and instruct recipients to pay fines online.

Police said the fraudulent messages direct users to a fake website, “https://thecourierguy.cu.cc/lk”, which is designed to resemble the official government payment platform “GovPay”.

According to investigations, fraudsters are using the fake site to obtain bank and credit card details from unsuspecting victims attempting to settle the alleged fines.

The Police further stated that the scam is damaging the reputation and public trust of the Sri Lanka Police, and urged the public not to click on suspicious links sent via SMS or WhatsApp.

Authorities clarified that under existing procedures, a traffic offence must first be communicated to the driver by a police officer, and an official fine slip is issued only after the driver admits the offence through the GovPay system.

The Sri Lanka Police have urged the public to make payments only after receiving an official fine slip and to remain vigilant against online fraud attempts.