RELATED: Never Use This One Card to Pay for Holiday Gifts, FBI Says. On Dec. 1, MassLive reported that scammers are posing as officials from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) in a new text message con.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb The grift begins when you receive a text from what appears to be the RMV. In some cases, the text will claim that you are required to update your driver’s license information for the state’s RMV database or you risk having your license suspended. However, the link that supposedly leads to the database into which you can input your information actually takes you to a phishing website where your data may be stolen by scammers. For the latest safety news delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter! While the fear of having your license suspended might be enough to get you to cough up information at the slightest prompting, the RMV says that there are certain clear indications that the text you’ve received is a scam. If the website you’re taken to has the word “for-profit” or “privately-owned” on it, or if the link leads to a site other than your local DMV or RMV website, you can be certain that it’s fake. In the case of the Massachusetts RMV, any legitimate communications from the agency will also bear the Massachusetts state seal. If you live in Massachusetts, any communications would be marked “RMV,” not “DMV,” as well. The Westfield, Massachusetts Police Department (WMPD), which also warned of the scam on its official Facebook page, noted that following the link included in the text message may put your personal information in the wrong hands. “The link provided will open up to a Google doc, in an attempt to get the victim to enter their personal information and submit it to the suspect(s) for nefarious purposes,” the WMPD explains. The police department recommends that anyone who receives this text delete it and block the sender immediately. The Massachusetts RMV announced via its website that it “does not send text messages to customers to request personal information.” While there may be some exceptions to the rule, most state DMVs and RMVs will not attempt to solicit information this way, either. Massachusetts isn’t alone in having scammers impersonate officials from the DMV or RMV. In Oct. 2021, the New York State DMV announced that a similar text message phishing scam was being perpetrated by individuals posing as DMV officials. The California, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, and Washington DMVs and Departments of Licensing are among the other states to announce similar text message scams. If you have any doubt about the legitimacy of a message you’ve received, contact your state’s DMV via the email or phone number on its official website and report the fraud. RELATED: If You Get This Message from Your Bank, Contact Authorities, FBI Says.
