India, Dec. 22 -- A fresh surge in cyber fraud cases linked to fake RTO e-challans has put residents of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad on high alert, with victims losing lakhs of rupees after clicking malicious links sent to their phones. Cyber police have warned that scammers are increasingly exploiting public familiarity with digital traffic fines to gain access to smartphones and siphon money from bank accounts.

According to officials, fraudsters are circulating messages that closely resemble official traffic violation notices. These alerts typically claim that an unpaid challan has been issued for offences such as overspeeding or signal jumping. To add urgency, the messages include a link or an attached file, urging recipients to act quic...