Haryana Police has issued an advisory requesting citizens to be cautious and alert while registering or activating their FASTag wallets as some fraudsters may try to siphon off money from their bank accounts on the pretext of helping them.
Advising people to be aware of such fraudsters, Director General of Police (crime), PK Agrawal on Wednesday said that scamsters have now come up with a new method to dupe citizens after the FASTag has been made mandatory for all private and commercial vehicles for their faster movement at toll plazas.
They are now attempting to draw off money from bank accounts of gullible people on the pretext of helping them register and activate their FASTag accounts. As FASTag service is new, scamsters are trying all means to cheat citizens.
Explaining the modus operandi, he said that first, these scamsters send fake messages which appear as if they are from genuine sources like banks, asking for personal or financial details or even OTP) (one-time password) in the name of FASTag registration.
Then they lure citizens by offering discounts or cashback schemes asking them to transfer money or provide their details. As soon as someone shares details or OTP with the caller, funds are siphoned off from his bank account.
Suggesting the precautionary measures, Agrawal urged the people not to fall prey to these scamsters and whenever they receive any such call regarding FASTag registration, they should immediately disconnect it and directly contact or visit the nearest bank to resolve the issue, if any.
He also made it clear that FASTag registration and activation process does not happen by speaking to a bank employee over the phone.
The DGP also advised people not to share the PIN or password with anyone and added that people should buy FASTag only from approved agencies such as banks certified to issue FASTag, toll plazas, Paytm and Amazon, etc. In addition, citizens should install only the genuine application for smartphones provided by NHAI. For example, my FASTag application available on Google Playstore has been launched by NHAI under Indian Highways Management Company Ltd. (IHMCL).