DMV Scams Text Messages Target Holiday Travelers
- Admin
- May 25
- 2 min read
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – With millions of folks traveling across the nation during the long holiday weekend, many are reportedly receiving scam text messages. The senders of these messages claim to be from travel-related agencies including the Department of Motor Vehicles and E-Z Pass.
Monroe County Clerk Jamie Romeo explained why we see more scam messages like these during times of high travel.
“A scam is looking to take advantage of you when you’re vulnerable,” Romeo said. “And in this case, people are making holiday plans, looking to get back home or get to see family and friends, and they are trying to threaten that with misinformation.”
There are a few ways to tell if a text message you receive is actually a scam. Some indicators include looking at the phone number to see if the sender’s country code is different from the U.S. (+1). These messages often demand immediate action be taken. Sometimes, scam text messages will include links to external websites not affiliated with a legitimate government agency.
With these pointers, Romeo said the truth is that a government agency will not send text messages to an individual unless they’ve opted in to receiving them.
“When it comes to government, they’re going to be asking for your consent. So, if you’ve not consented, it’s most likely not legitimate and it’s spam,” Romeo said. “If you’ve signed up for MyDMV, or if you have an appointment either for a pistol permit, a passport or something else within the clerk’s office, you’re going to get those reminders and pieces of information through your email.”
Even in this case, Romeo shared something else to keep in mind.
“No government agency, whether it’s the DMV or any will ever ask you to provide personal information through a text message,” Romeo said.
The New York State Office of Information Technology Services has more details available regarding the most common scam text messages available on their website.
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