Fake Driving Licence and Passport Agent Scam through an app

How it looks through an app, the red flags and what to do.

A fake app can be installed from a link, from a file sent on chat or even from a lookalike listing. Once on your phone it can ask for powerful permissions. Fake Driving Licence and Passport Agent Scam is one of the ways this shows up: Fake websites and agents promise a licence without a test or a quick passport appointment for a fee, then keep the money and your documents.

What fake driving licence and passport agent scam looks like through an app

• An .apk file sent on WhatsApp or by SMS.
• An app outside the official store that asks for many permissions.
• A screen-sharing or remote-control app that a caller asks you to install.

The scammer puts up a site with a name close to a real government service, or runs an ad promising faster results. A phone number or a chat button connects you to an agent. They explain a list of fees, sometimes broken into parts: form fee, appointment fee, verification fee. Each piece is small, so none feels alarming alone, and together the total is high.

Red flags to check on the app

• It promises a licence without taking the test.
• It offers a passport appointment slot for an extra fee.
• Fees are collected in parts through personal UPI.
• The website address is not the official one you typed.
• It asks you to turn off Play Protect.
• The app does not come from the official store listing of the company.

What to do

1. Stop and do not pay any more.
2. Use only the official government portal by typing its address yourself.
3. Ask friends or family who recently applied how they did it.
4. Do not install it. If it is installed, uninstall it now (Settings, Apps).
5. Open Settings and check Accessibility, Device admin apps and Install unknown apps for anything you do not recognise.
6. Change the passwords of your bank and email from a clean device if the app had access.

Report the fake app to the store it came from and, if money moved, call 1930 and report at cybercrime.gov.in.

If money or a code is already gone

1. Call 1930 if you paid recently and give the account details.
2. Watch your credit report and SIM records for activity in your name.
3. File a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in with receipts and chats.
4. Tell your bank through the number on your card if you shared card details.

National Cyber Crime Helpline: 1930; report at cybercrime.gov.in.

Safeavio Sentinel's link check lets you paste a site address before you open it and flags lookalike domains and risky patterns. The scam check reads chat text you paste and notes an offer to skip the process, fees in parts and fake authority. It cannot confirm whether an agent is licensed or whether your application exists, so always use the official portal for your application.

Full guide: Fake Driving Licence and Passport Agent Scam: how it works, signs and what to do. Other channels: social media, phone call.

Questions