Malappuram (Kerala): A 41-year-old man allegedly lost Rs 3.89 lakh from his bank account after clicking a fraudulent link sent to his mobile phone in the guise of a traffic violation penalty in Kondotty here, police said on Saturday.

To advertise here,

The incident occurred on November 8, when the complainant, Jamsheed, a resident of Nambolankunnu near Calicut Airport, received a text message claiming that a penalty had been imposed for a traffic violation involving his vehicle, police said.

The message carried a reference number and a link that redirected him to an interface resembling the Parivahan portal.

After entering his vehicle registration number as prompted, Rs 3,89,496 was fraudulently withdrawn from his bank account through 10 transactions using a UPI application, police said.

Jamsheed realised the fraud after checking his bank balance and approached the police with a complaint. A case was registered on November 12.

Police said they had traced the bank accounts to which the money was transferred and directed that they be frozen.

Several other people have also approached the police with similar complaints of losing smaller amounts from their bank accounts after clicking links in messages claiming that traffic fines had been imposed on their vehicles, police said.

The case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

Police have launched an investigation to identify those behind the fraud.

(This story has not been edited by Mathrubhumi and is published from a syndicated feed.)