The National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has raised an alarm to ensure that citizens are safeguarded against an increasing trend of Internet fraud. An imitated NADRA site has just come into the limelight, which is aptly modeled to appear like the official visa portal of the organization to mislead unknowing users.
In an attempt to protect the citizens against theft of data and financial frauds, NADRA, together with cybersecurity agencies have issued valuable guidelines. This is all you have to know about this deceptive portal and how to be safe on the internet.
Details of the Fraudulent Visa Portal
According to the official NADRA alert, the fraudulent site heavily impersonates the organization’s official visa portal and is currently operating under the deceptive URL: https://www.visa.nadragov.online.
The authority has strongly clarified that this website is in no way affiliated with NADRA. It is a phishing trap actively being used by scammers to steal sensitive personal information and extort unauthorized payments from citizens applying for visas.
NADRA Safety Guidelines for Citizens
In a bid to avoid falling prey to Internet fraudsters, NADRA has provided the following strong guidelines:
It is highly recommended that citizens should absolutely not enter the counterfeit NADRA site and that they should never enter any personal or financial information on dubious portals.
NADRA has only one official and genuine visa portal and that is: https://visa.nadra.gov.pk.
The authority reminds everyone to ensure that whenever accessing the official government services, the websites should always have the domain extension of a.gov.pk.
NCERT Advisory on Cyber Threats
In another, though connected, news, a countrywide advisory has been implemented by the National Cyber Emergency Response Team (NCERT). The cybersecurity watchdog disclosed that they have managed to shut down nine other similar fake NADRA-style websites in the previous month that were trying to steal the personal information of the citizens.
The NCERT advisory clearly warns its citizens against ever giving out their personal information without proper scrutiny. The users are also encouraged not to open the suspicious links they get either through random email, WhatsApp or SMS messages. Both NADRA and NCERT have affirmed that they have been combating these deceptive cyber activities by following through on the digital space and taking rigid legal measures against such actions.
What is the fake NADRA website citizens are being warned about?
NADRA has warned citizens against visiting https://www.visa.nadragov.online, a fraudulent website designed to steal personal data and payments by mimicking the official visa portal.
What is the official and correct NADRA visa portal?
The only official and secure visa portal provided by NADRA is https://visa.nadra.gov.pk. Always ensure the URL ends with .gov.pk before entering any information.
What should I do if I receive a suspicious link claiming to be from NADRA?
If you receive a suspicious link via email or SMS, do not click on it and never share your personal information. Always navigate directly to the official NADRA website through a secure search engine.
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