If you receive notification by email or SMS of an outstanding traffic fine it is a fraud, says the Dirección General de Tráfico (General Director of Traffic: DGT) who states his department never sends notification of traffic fines by email, or radar photos or instructions to download a file.
There are four versions of this “false fine” notice in circulation, all the work of “pirates” who pose as staff at the Sanctions Department of the DGT. Readers are warned that by accessing the address with the email you give permission for the fraudsters to install “malware” on your computer.
The DGT are publicising information about this fraud to prevent people falling foul of this con.
The false fine email (falsa multa) displays the cifre as well as the emblem of the DGT as the Ministry of the Interior.
It will state: ““Se ha identificado en nuestro sistema una multa de tráfico no pagada dirigida a usted o su vehículo”. (Our system has identified an unpaid traffic fine for yourself or your vehicle).
The email then informs you that in order to see the “notification” you must go to the “supposed” electronic seat of the DGT. Everything demonstrates that the “link” is with the DGT but in reality it initiates the installation of a programme through which these delinquents can steal passwords and bank details of the user.
There are four versions of the fraudulent email, some have typing or grammatical errors (which may be difficult for a non-Spanish speaker to pick up) and some speak of “transito” instead of “trafico.”
The DGT emphasises that this is a scam. The DGT never sends notice of traffic fines by email, without previous identification procedures, even if the driver has subscribed to “electronic notifications” system.
The false notifications sometimes include a radar photo and/or ask you to download a file. As the DGT never does either of these they are another sign that the notification is a fraud.
