Beware of scam emails with fake traffic summonses

KUALA LUMPUR: A new scam in relation to traffic summonses has been uncovered by the police.

In this new tactic to swindle money, emails are sent to remind the recipients of their “outstanding summonses”, together with advisory notes urging them to resolve the tickets to avoid further punitive actions.

Also included is a link to “pay the fine”. Once clicked, the recipients may fall for phishing scams.

Federal police Commercial Crime Investigation Department director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said they have been made aware of the scam.

“Do not entertain or respond to these types of messages. The police force will never issue such a thing. Police will only issue summonses; it is already a notice of traffic violations,” he said when contacted yesterday.

Comm Ramli said the police would not come up with any additional means to demand that summonses be settled.

“Why would the police want to incur additional costs for printing or sending such demands online? It is absurd and does not make sense,” he added.

He urged the public to be cautious when opening emails with unverified links, as criminals could use such links for phishing scams.

Phishing scams trick users into exposing personal and sensitive data such as passwords and banking details, downloading malware and exposing themselves to cybercrime.

A fake email sighted by The Star carries a letterhead with the police logo that states: “We would like to draw your attention once again to a recent traffic offence.”

It said that the police’s internal compliance department noticed that the recipient had not paid the fine for a violation and demanded that the penalty be paid as quickly as possible.

“Failure to do so could result in serious legal repercussions, including the possibility of prosecution,” the fake email warns, including the bogus link to pay the fine.