[Briarean]

Recently, I got a call from a person who referred himself as a policeman from Wilson Garden, Bangalore.

He mentioned that I had 2000/- rupees on 2 challans pending on my car. The details he provided were correct. He then asked me to pay it as soon as possible. He said that he would share the traffic police department UPI QR code to make the payment.

The next line he mentioned raised suspicion. He said that there is a 200 rupees discount per challan given by the government only for today, and I just have to pay 1600 rupees. However, I found no discount details online (Facebook & Twitter handles of Bangalore Police). Meanwhile, I checked the Karnataka Police website, and the challan details were correct.

As I was unsure if the person was a policeman, I agreed with what he said. He shared the UPI QR code with me. I found that the code was for a person’s account, not any government department.

So, I logged in to the traffic Police website and paid the challan there. I shared the receipt with him saying that my UPI was not working so did the online payment. Then I blocked him.

My query is: How exactly are they getting these details that should be confidential? Even the government portal just needs your vehicle number to get the challan details. Anyone can get those details now.

Moreover, the number of spam and fraud calls you are getting nowadays is astounding. Every day, I receive around 12-20 such calls. Truecaller, Antivirus and DND options are saving me from these calls and messages.

[ruskinash]

Originally Posted by Briarean

My query is: How exactly are they getting these details that should be confidential? Even the government portal just needs your vehicle number to get the challan details. Anyone can get those details now.

Online security in India is a Joke. Especially with the government websites. I'm assuming two things that could be happening here. Someone in the government department is selling/passing on the data, and/or the websites are hacked.
I know that once you begin sharing your phone numbers online/websites/apps, and with shops in the malls, you're done for.

Don't be surprised if Truecaller's main source of income is from sharing customers' data, i.e their contact list/phonebook.

[nda992]

I have had the experience of reporting a cyber crime which occurred with my mother. The cyber crime website hangs frequently, the helpline number may ring but after the first few seconds it gets disconnected.
The govt agencies have simply no sense of responsibility when it comes to a physical crime, so what would their response be for cyber crimes doesn't take too much intellect to guess.
I personally know more than a dozen friends/relatives/acquaintances who have lost a BIG amount in cyber crime & never got any redressal despite reporting it promptly.
The only way is to safeguard oneself is to stay vigilant & be situationally aware.

[Sunny_7937]

The scammers are becoming quite smart at this it seems. My uncle received a call from a person impersonating as a police officer. This police officer informs my uncle that his son has raped a girl and is in custody. Immediately my uncle disconnects the call and calls his son, to his dismay he’s in exam hall and phone is silent. For a moment he’s shook as the police officer sent him some notices over WhatsApp. All this amounting for 10k odd rupees. He holds his nerves and calls the HOD and confirms if his son is in the exam hall.


What I wanted to highlight is the scammers supposedly got the information from one of his classmates regarding the timing of exam, such that the sons phone won’t be accessible and that will make my uncle doubt that his son may have done this crime.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Briarean

My query is: How exactly are they getting these details that should be confidential? Even the government portal just needs your vehicle number to get the challan details. Anyone can get those details now.

Actually, you’ve answered your question yourself
The scamster only needs to know your vehicle number to search for traffic challans and your phone number to call/Whatsapp you!
He will login to the BTP/KSP website using his own phone number on which he will receive an OTP. Once logged in, he can search for fines on any vehicle registration number.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by Sunny_7937

The scammers are becoming quite smart at this it seems. My uncle received a call from a person impersonating as a police officer.

This is also a common scam now. Let me guess, the call came from +92 number?

Originally Posted by Sunny_7937

What I wanted to highlight is the scammers supposedly got the information from one of his classmates regarding the timing of exam, such that the sons phone won’t be accessible and that will make my uncle doubt that his son may have done this crime.

I don't think so. It was pure luck for the scammer. They are all based out of our neighboring country.

[Aviator_guy]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

This is also a common scam now. Let me guess, the call came from +92 number?

I don't think so. It was pure luck for the scammer. They are all based out of our neighboring country.

Shockingly majority of cybercrime is taking place from within our country. The other day they were showing news of villages in Rajasthan and Haryana where training centers were training folks to commit cyber frauds. I have heard similar stories about other states in Eastern parts of India. The innovation to cheat and earn illegal money overnight is taking place right in our backyard, who needs an outside enemy

Originally Posted by Sunny_7937

The scammers are becoming quite smart at this it seems. My uncle received a call from a person impersonating as a police officer. This police officer informs my uncle that his son has raped a girl and is in custody. Immediately my uncle disconnects the call and calls his son, to his dismay he’s in exam hall and phone is silent. For a moment he’s shook as the police officer sent him some notices over WhatsApp. All this amounting for 10k odd rupees. He holds his nerves and calls the HOD and confirms if his son is in the exam hall.


What I wanted to highlight is the scammers supposedly got the information from one of his classmates regarding the timing of exam, such that the sons phone won’t be accessible and that will make my uncle doubt that his son may have done this crime.

This looks very targeted going by the circumstances. Sounds like a prank ?

Note to moderator: sorry for back to back posts. Please merge to my previous post.

[ABHI_1512]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

They are all based out of our neighboring country.

Unfortunately, our country has long been the den for these scam stars. A little known town from Jharkhand named Jamtara is where it all started and has now become a full fledged industry of sorts with its tentacles spread across India- mainly the north and the eastern part of India. In fact, Calcutta Police in the past have come across many such call center’s right in the middle of the city and closed them down. One will be astounded to see the level they have gone to. Here is the most recent one-

https://www.telegraphindia.com/my-ko...ud/cid/1921235

We don’t need anyone from the neighbouring country to make a fool out of us when folks from our own country are doing it with great impunity !!

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by Aviator_guy

Shockingly majority of cybercrime is taking place from within our country.

Originally Posted by ABHI_1512

Unfortunately, our country has long been the den for these scam stars.

That's true. However, this specific scam is reported from +92 numbers.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by NPV

Actually, you’ve answered your question yourself
The scamster only needs to know your vehicle number to search for traffic challans and your phone number to call/Whatsapp you!
He will login to the BTP/KSP website using his own phone number on which he will receive an OTP. Once logged in, he can search for fines on any vehicle registration number.

Learnt about a website and service called NGF132.com from our forum itself. I tested the same by feeding my own vehicle number. The search returned my vehicle details along with my first name. Chose to contact the owner through the website & me being the owner, received a notification on both Whatsapp and SMS. There is also option to call the vehicle owner which I haven't tried. The service says the owner will get the call but the number will be masked.

How does this 3rd party website gets so much data from RTO including name, vehicle details and phone number of the owner?

This is alarming in my opinion & opens room for many more scams for the inclined minds.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by Briarean

My query is: How exactly are they getting these details that should be confidential? Even the government portal just needs your vehicle number to get the challan details. Anyone can get those details now.
.

On the KarnatakaOne website, if you enter the vehicle registration number, you can easily get details such as the car owner's name, Pending fines, where and at what time/date the traffic offence(s) were committed etc.

See this for e.g - This are Pending fine details of our old i20 that we sold in 2014 that showed up on the K'tka One website(I have blanked out the current owner name and other details). Clearly the owner hasn't paid the fine even after six years :


While it is a very convenient way to pay fines, it can also be misused by scammers to get information easily.

[Fuldagap]

Originally Posted by saket77

Learnt about a website and service called NGF132.com from our forum itself. I tested the same by feeding my own vehicle number. The search returned my vehicle details along with my first name. Chose to contact the owner through the website & me being the owner, received a notification on both Whatsapp and SMS. There is also option to call the vehicle owner which I haven't tried. The service says the owner will get the call but the number will be masked.

How does this 3rd party website gets so much data from RTO including name, vehicle details and phone number of the owner?

This is alarming in my opinion & opens room for many more scams for the inclined minds.

I am not sure they can get the data from a government web portal. The app must have been feeded with your details sometime when you would entered a society using that app for entry and exit checks for your car. The security guard must have entered your details. Something like NoBrokerHood.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

I am not sure they can get the data from a government web portal. The app must have been feeded with your details sometime when you would entered a society using that app for entry and exit checks for your car. The security guard must have entered your details. Something like NoBrokerHood.

Nah! It quotes complete model details & company color code name with registration date, fitness validity (all exact dates), place of registration with full details that only RTO has. It can send messages on whatsapp and sms, so it should be able to call the owner as well.

Check details below, It shows complete fitness and insurance dates- I have patched it in white and crossed by editing:

[john.gt]

When you search for a vehicle in ngf32, it sends a whatsapp message to the owner of the vehicle that the vehicle was searched for. That is, if the registered number in the registration is having whatsapp activated

Originally Posted by saket77

Nah! It quotes complete model details & company color code name with registration date, fitness validity (all exact dates), place of registration with full details that only RTO has. It can send messages on whatsapp and sms, so it should be able to call the owner as well.

Check details below, It shows complete fitness and insurance dates- I have patched it in white and crossed by editing:

[saket77]

Originally Posted by john.gt

When you search for a vehicle in ngf32, it sends a whatsapp message to the owner of the vehicle that the vehicle was searched for. That is, if the registered number in the registration is having whatsapp activated

It also sends SMS along with WhatsApp if you select any option like 'headlights on' to the owner. But lets not miss the wood for the trees. Point is they have all data available including your name & phone number. This cannot happen without access to RTO data.