LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Michiganders know the Secretary of State is the place to go for driving-related services. However, that’s not stopping a scam from circulating that claims it is from the nonexistent “Department of Motor Vehicles” in an attempt to scam people out of their money and personal information.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is urging Michigan residents to be on alert after an increase of fraudulent text messages. The scam claims to be from the “State of Michigan Department of Vehicles” and falsely states that recipients have an unpaid ticket that must be paid immediately to avoid penalties. The message includes a link to a fake payment site and instructs recipients to provide personal and financial information.
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“These messages are scams,” Nessel said. “Michigan does not have a Department of Vehicles, and the Secretary of State does not send text messages threatening to suspend your license or registration. If you receive a text message like this, delete it, and do not click on any links.”
Here are some ways to determine if a message is fraudulent:
- The message is unsolicited.
- The message is sent from an unusually long phone number (10 or more digits).
- It includes a link that is likely shortened or scrambled.
- It is written with a sense of urgency, like, “pay the ticket or your license will be suspended.”
- The message contains grammatical and spelling errors.
- The message promises a reward or prize if you respond or click a link.
- The message requests personal or financial information.
Do not reply to suspicious texts or click on links or attachments. Instead, they should use built-in spam-blocking tools on their mobile devices. Consumers can report texts by forwarding them to SPAM (7726).