{"id":627973,"date":"2026-02-06T13:01:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T11:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=627973"},"modified":"2026-02-06T13:02:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T11:02:38","slug":"traffic-fine-scam-warning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/motoring\/627973-traffic-fine-scam-warning.html","title":{"rendered":"Traffic fine scam warning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Road Traffic Infringement Agency (RTIA) says fraudsters are using fake websites that mimic the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) website to scam motorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rtia_aarto\/status\/2019254202787328312?s=20\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/rtia_aarto\/status\/2019254202787328312?s=20\">post<\/a> on X, the agency highlighted that the official Aarto website is aarto.gov.za. It urged residents not to make payments or provide personal details on any other site claiming to be Aarto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Public Warning. Please be cautious of fraudulent websites pretending to be the official Aarto website,&#8221; it said. &#8220;These fake sites may be used to scam the public and steal personal or payment information.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Stay safe. Always verify the website URL before proceeding and report suspicious sites immediately.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The RTIA issued several warnings regarding fraudulent traffic fine notification and payment requests in late 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These came after it noticed an increase in after-hours scams targeting motorists with requests to pay fake traffic fines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It urged motorists to disregard any such notifications sent after hours and verify concerns with the RTIA during office hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Important reminder: RTIA has noticed an increase in after working hours scam emails regarding traffic fines,&#8221; the RTIA said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A similar warning came from RTIA spokesperson Monde Mkalipi. He noted that these after-hours notifications were being sent electronically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mkalipi explained that the electronic servicing of Aarto documents has yet to get the required legal approval in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The threatening emails that are being sent out to road users are illegal, demanding payments for traffic fines,&#8221; he told MyBroadband.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Road users are urged to ignore these emails. No law is currently in place in South Africa stating that Aarto traffic fines should be served in this manner.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He highlighted that many of these communications are often sent after working hours, especially on weekends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Such emails are unlawful. Road users should ignore the emails and verify such info with the RTIA before pressing any buttons on such online correspondence,&#8221; said Mkalipi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Currently, Aarto infringements are only served through personal means or registered mail.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wait for national Aarto rollout<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"747\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/30087256695_e4e0489bff_k-747x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-505220\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While parts of the Aarto system are in effect in Pretoria and Johannesburg, the national rollout has been delayed once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In November 2025, the Department of Transport announced that the rollout had been deferred to 1 July 2026, rather than 1 December 2025, when the system was set to roll out to 69 more municipalities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The department explained that there were deficiencies in the finalisation of the law enforcement and back office personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other deficiencies included harmonising the current law enforcement systems used by various municipalities and funding them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Department will soon publish the new proclamation with new staggered implementation dates, the 1 July 2026 being the official implementation date,&#8221; the Department of Transport said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The phased approach of implementation will still be maintained as initially envisaged.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Under the previous rollout timeline, Aarto&#8217;s first phase would have gone live in an additional 69 municipalities from 1 December 2025, followed by the remaining 144 municipalities from 1 April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first phase doesn&#8217;t include the demerit points system for driving licences, which was set to roll out from 1 September 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If the earlier timeline had remained in effect, the full implementation of Aarto, including the demerit points system, would have only occurred around mid-2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some stakeholders, such as the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA), aren&#8217;t convinced that the system will help curb accidents and fatalities on the country&#8217;s roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The AA noted that the Aarto pilots in Pretoria and Johannesburg haven&#8217;t shown any improvement in road safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It warned that the system likely won&#8217;t address underlying road safety challenges, and rather risks worsening inefficiencies, unfairly burdening motorists, and further eroding public trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;South Africa&#8217;s persistent road fatalities point to deeper systemic factors, including law enforcement inefficiencies, road user education and behaviour, vehicle fitness, and safety, and infrastructure,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fraudsters have created websites mimicking the Aarto website to scam motorists with fake traffic fines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341076,"featured_media":467311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29366],"tags":[103162,19172,70305,19174,103161,18388],"class_list":["post-627973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-aarto-scam","tag-administrative-adjudication-of-road-traffic-offences-aarto","tag-monde-mkalipi","tag-road-traffic-infringement-agency-rtia","tag-traffic-fine-scam","tag-traffic-fines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627973"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341076"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627973"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":628138,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627973\/revisions\/628138"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}