AFP warns of scam asking to pay fake Traffic Infringement Notice

Today the Australian Federal Police has warned not to open or respond to any Traffic Infringement Notices that asked to pay $150 for negligent driving.

Instead of being sent in the mail, the fake Infringement Notices have been sent to unsuspecting email addresses. The AFP has said on their Facebook page that the emails were a scam and not to pay any money and do not click any attachments or links.

“This email has taken off widely today and looks legitimate, and many people have been compromised, so I would urge people to be vigilant.

“The AFP never sends out traffic infringement notices via email, so if you have received an email that purports to be from the AFP and have doubt about its authenticity, do not make a payment or provide personal details”.

The dodgy notice has a AFP logo and a copyright on the bottom. Superintendent Norris warned that if links within the message were clicked, the recipient’s computer would be infected with malware “which renders it inoperable”.

It’s a scary thought that your computer could be infiltrated so it’s best to be on alert about scams before you are stung.

“This email has taken off widely today and looks legitimate, and many people have been compromised, so I would urge people to be vigilant,” Superintendent Norris said.

“The AFP never sends out traffic infringement notices via email, so if you have received an email that purports to be from the AFP and have doubt about its authenticity, do not make a payment or provide personal details.

“Payment of this traffic Infringement notice will not go to the AFP – your money will be going to scammers overseas”, he told the ABC.

People who believe they have received the scam email should report it to the Australian Cyber Crime Online Reporting Network (ACORN) via www.acorn.gov.au or ScamWatch via www.scamwatch.gov.au

Full text reads: Hi everyone, there’s a scam going around at the moment you need to know about!

Scammers claiming to be the AFP are asking people to pay a Traffic Infringement Notice.

DO NOT pay any money and DO NOT click any attachments or links!

You should delete the email straight away and consider running a virus scan of your computer in case the email is infected with a virus.

Please help us and your friends out by spreading the word about this scam!

#AusFedPolice #scams #cybercrime

 

Tell us below: have you received this scam email? What did you do?