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Shridhar V, a Mumbai-based comedian, has exposed a traffic scam that mimics the government’s e-challan portal, warning of disguised phishing attempts targeting vehicle owners.
Shridhar V, a Mumbai-based comedian, has exposed a traffic scam that mimics the government’s e-challan portal, warning of disguised phishing attempts targeting vehicle owners. (Image: X)
A Mumbai-based comedian narrowly escaped falling prey to a traffic scam that is now worrying social media users, highlighting how convincing phishing attempts can be.
Comedian Shridhar V shared that he received an SMS claiming that his car was caught over speeding by a traffic camera. The message, sent from a regular mobile phone number, urged him to pay an “urgent” fine and included a short link. At first glance, the alert seemed real.
Who says Indians are not innovative? Look how complicated this scam is 😱 I almost entered my card details before searching for the domain on Google. A crazy amount of fraud must be going on with a lot of people. By the time the police start moving, they will have made millions! Awesome 😠 pic.twitter.com/KZyg6R4RnI– Shridhar V (@iimcomic) January 17, 2026
It was only after spending some time examining the website address that Shridhar realized something was wrong. “Who says Indians are not innovative?” He wrote in a post in which he revealed that he almost entered his card details before he decided to search for the link on Google.
The screenshots shared by the comedian showed a webpage that closely mimicked the government’s official e-challan portal. The fake website prominently displayed the Ashoka logo and described itself as “eChallan – Digital Traffic/Transport Enforcement Solution”, claiming to operate under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
The page carried an alert written in bold, “Urgent payment required! You have an outstanding traffic fine of INR 500. Pay immediately.” I listed one pending call with a long reference number, selected the section as “Traffic,” and the “Pay Now” button appeared bright green. The warning below threatens severe penalties, license suspension, or even court summons if payment is delayed — language clearly intended to create panic.
But a closer look revealed a red flag. The website domain was echallan.pasvahan.icu, not the official echallan.parivahan.gov.in. The shortened link in the SMS masked the suspicious URL, making it difficult to spot the scam at first glance.
19 January 2026 at 9:56 PM IST
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