{
  "id": 10659302,
  "title": "Motorists targeted: Fake Aarto fine portals fuel surge in sophisticated scams",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/29/motorists-targeted-fake-aarto-fine-portals-fuel-surge-in",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-29T09:42:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Citizen",
    "slug": "the-citizen",
    "url": "https://www.citizen.co.za/news/motorists-targeted-fake-aarto-fine-portals-fuel-surge-sophisticated-scams/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "South African motorists are facing an increase in sophisticated scams that mimic official Aarto fine payment platforms. These scams employ cloned websites, fake SMS and WhatsApp messages, and other tactics to trick victims into providing money and personal data. The Road Traffic Infringement Authority (RTIA), in collaboration with the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), is warning motorists to only make payments through verified and approved platforms. The RTIA advises motorists to use the 16-digit Infringement Notice number as a reference and to never share RTIA bank account details. The authority stresses that the only legitimate Aarto website is https://online.aarto.gov.za, and encourages victims of such scams to report the scam numbers to their network providers and RTIA.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}