The sender of the text message pretends to be a government official and asks the recipient to pay their “vehicle trip fee.” Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have repeatedly warned residents that they may receive fraudulent text messages.
Residents have recently received a text message from an unknown number asking them to pay their “vehicle trip fee” in yet another con.
The following message is displayed on the fraudulent message that Khaleej Times obtained: Salik: If you have not paid your vehicle trip fee, please do so as soon as possible to avoid paying fines. The message likewise incorporated a dubious connection.
When determining whether a message is a rip-off, there are a few things to look out for. Signs of a fraudulent message include:
Message contains a link or requests an immediate response; received from an unknown international number; or ID does not display authority. In this instance, the fake alert was sent from an unknown international number. In contrast, as can be seen below, the authority’s name is included in the ID of a typical Salik message.
A representative from Salik’s customer service confirmed that messages that haven’t been received from the direct domain and show “Salik” as the sender are probably fake.
The agent likewise said that the recipient should not make any installments or snap on any connection that might have been in the instant message. He went on to say that the Smart Salik app can be downloaded and used to make payments to avoid falling for such con artists.
