Morocco’s Ministry of Justice has issued a public alert over a fraudulent text message circulating widely, which falsely purports to originate from the ministry and attempts to manipulate recipients into making payments through a counterfeit online platform. The ministry confirmed that the message has no connection to any official government system.
The fraudulent SMS, labelled “Notice of Administrative Enforcement,” includes a fabricated case number and claims that a traffic violation was detected through surveillance systems. It instructs recipients to settle an outstanding fine within a specified deadline or face administrative and legal consequences, including account seizures. The message contains a link to a fake payment website designed to collect personal and financial data.
The ministry identified several technical indicators of fraud: the web address contains a misspelling of an official domain and uses a free, non-governmental domain format — both features inconsistent with legitimate state platforms. Officials underlined that the only authorized government portal for traffic fine payments is available exclusively at the secure address amendes.justice.gov.ma.
Citizens were urged to refrain from clicking on any links contained in such messages and to avoid sharing personal or banking information on unverified websites. The ministry also recommended that recipients delete suspicious messages immediately and report any suspected phishing attempts to the relevant authorities.
The warning forms part of a broader drive by Moroccan authorities to combat the increasing sophistication of cyber fraud operations that exploit the names and institutional identities of public bodies to extract sensitive data from unsuspecting citizens.
