Mumbai comedian reveals ‘sophisticated’ e-challan scam, fake portal mimics official MoRTH website

The scam site also stated that failure to pay could result in 'hefty fines, license suspension, or court summons,' to create a sense of urgency. (Image credit: Kiran Rajput/X)

A Mumbai-based stand-up comedian has drawn attention to what he described as a “highly sophisticated” traffic challan scam after nearly entering his card details on a fake website that closely imitates the Government of India’s official e-challan portal.

Sharing screenshots on X, the comedian said he received an SMS claiming that his vehicle had been recorded speeding by a traffic camera. The message, sent from a regular mobile number, urged immediate action and included a shortened link redirecting users to an external website. “Who says Indians are not innovative?” he wrote. “I almost entered my card details before googling the domain.”

Fake portal mimics official MoRTH branding

The screenshots show a webpage styled as the “eChallan – Digital Traffic/Transport Enforcement Solution,” using the Ashoka emblem and claiming to be an “initiative of MoRTH, Government of India.” It prominently displays an alert reading: “Urgent Payment Required! You have an outstanding traffic fine of INR 500. Pay immediately.”

The page lists a single pending challan, complete with a long challan reference number, department tag (“Traffic”), amount (Rs 500) and a green “Pay Now” button. A warning below states that failure to pay could result in “hefty fines, license suspension, or court summons,” a phrasing designed to create urgency.

But, the browser address bar shows the domain as echallan.pasvahan.icu, not the official government website, echallan.parivahan.gov.in. The difference was only a letter; "r" was replaced with "s". The presence of a shortened link in the original SMS (cutt.ly) further obscures the destination URL, making the scam harder to spot at first glance.

Dynamic detail insertion raises credibility

In a follow-up screenshot, the site offers options to search by challan number, vehicle number or driving licence number—mirroring the structure of the legitimate Parivahan and e-challan portals.

The comedian noted that whatever details a user inputs appear automatically alongside the challan on the next screen, creating the illusion that the system is genuinely pulling official records. “Whatever you input comes next to the challan number to make it believable,” he wrote. “The interface will fool many.”

Netizens report receiving similar messages

Several users replied saying they had received identical SMS alerts repeatedly. “OMG thanks for this. I’ve been getting these messages too,” one user wrote.

I know right. Happened for my sister and made this.https://t.co/Dj0xibpbfd

— Rahul (@rahulmfg) January 17, 2026

Others expressed anger over the scale of digital fraud, with some noting frustration at the slow pace of enforcement. "Indians are not innovators, they are just good at fraud and scams," said a second user. "I get this every month, I simply write curse words," commented a third, adding that he also uses AI to attack the scam site by flooding it with malicious traffic and making it unavailable to other users.