Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mahendra Singh has condemned a fraudulent SMS circulating in Guyana that falsely claims to be from the Guyana Police Force’s Traffic Department and requests payment for an alleged speeding violation. The fraudulent message claims to be from the Guyana Police Force’s (GPF) Traffic Department and tells recipients that their vehicle has been recorded committing a speeding violation. It includes a purported report number and directs recipients to a website where they are instructed to view photographic evidence, submit an appeal, or pay the alleged fine online. According to the Singh, who is the Traffic Chief, the GPF has already issued two public advisories on the matter- one about three weeks ago and another immediately after the fraudulent messages began circulating. He explained that the advisories carefully inform the public about the official process for receiving a speeding ticket in Guyana and the approved method of payment. He further outlined the procedure.

“In our country, a speeding ticket is only paid via MMG. But the messages that you or others would have received, or that were forwarded to you, direct persons to a site where they are asked to pay using a bank card. Right away you know that is not in keeping with our laws, and it is fraudulent. All of the public advisories to keep the public informed commenced from the time the SRIS (Safe Road Intelligent System) was put in place because we wanted people to know how they would receive the notice, how they would receive the SMS, and how they should pay.” Singh also reminded members of the public that legitimate speeding notices are issued only through official GPF channels.

“Right away, when you look at the link, you can see it is not in keeping with what you know. My encouragement to the public is to utilise the option to find your ticket on the official Guyana Police Force website. That way, if you are unsure whether you have received a legitimate notice, you can simply go to the official site and check whether a ticket has been issued to you.”