The Municipal Police of Benevento has warned residents about a fake SMS circulating in the city that claims to concern a traffic violation and invites recipients to open a link.
According to the report published by NTR24, the message begins with: "Hai una comunicazione relativa a un'infrazione al codice della strada". It appears to refer to pagoPA and directs recipients to a link to check details about the supposed violation.
The Municipal Police identifies the message as a phishing attempt. Citizens are advised not to open the link, not to provide personal or banking data, and not to make payments based only on the SMS.
The pattern matches a wider scam described by the Polizia di Stato in its warning about fake fines. That scheme uses SMS or email messages about alleged fines to push victims toward counterfeit, official-looking websites.
The fear of an unpaid fine is central to how the deception works. A recipient worried about a penalty is more likely to click quickly, before checking whether the message is genuine. Once on the fake site, victims may be asked for personal information, banking credentials, card details, or OTP codes.
In Benevento, the sender number, link, and domain used in the messages were not disclosed in the available reports. There are also no confirmed figures on how many people received the message or suffered losses in connection with this specific wave.
What residents should do is straightforward: do not follow the link in the unexpected SMS, do not enter personal data, banking credentials, card numbers, or OTP codes on any page reached that way, and verify any alleged fine through official institutional channels rather than through an unexpected SMS link.
