RICO’s Q — It’s been a few days since I received the following message on my cellular phone. Mine was from the Dirección General de la Policía de Transito (traffic police). Several friends received, on the same Friday, a similar message, but from the Cosevi (Consejo de Seguridad Vial).
The messages were similar, “You have an outstanding traffic fine. Please pay it immediately.” The fraudulent message included a link to a fake website designed to steal your credit card details or personal information.
These messages received on Friday were cordial, even saying “por favor,” and did not threaten extra fees, plate revocation, or license suspension in any way.
The links look convincing, using look-alike web domains. Remember, all official Costa Rican government websites end in .go.cr
Protect yourself
- Don’t click on any links you get about traffic tickets—whether it’s a text or an email.
- Check your vehicle or driver status by going straight to the official COSEVI Public Inquiry Portal yourself.
- Block the number, mark it as spam, and keep your info to yourself.
In Costa Rica, traffic tickets are handed directly to the driver at the moment of the violation. You can refuse to sign the ticket, but it still has to be given to you in person right then and there. This means you won’t receive any notices in the mail or through your registered phone number with Cosevi about tickets later on.If you lent your car to a friend or family member and they got a ticket without telling you, you can check for any unpaid traffic fines on your vehicle by visiting the Cosevi website, just like mentioned above.
In Costa Rica, all traffic tickets are issued personally to the driver. You may refuse to sign the ticket, but it has to be delivered personally at the time of the infraction. That is, you won’t get a notice at your registered email or cellular number with the Cosevi about a traffic infraction you committed on such a day, time, and place.
If you loaned your car to a friend or family member and they may have gotten a ticket and never told you, you can (as in 2 above) check for any outstanding traffic tickets against your vehicle at the Cosevi website.
This scam isn’t anything new. It’s been floating around for a while, but for many people—like me—this might be the first time they’ve seen a notice like this.