The emergence of new scams is almost routine nowadays and New York State's Department of Motor Vehicles and Division of Consumer Protection are warning residents about a brand new text message phishing scam.

These scams are becoming more and more sophisticated and this latest one appears to come from the "Secretary of State NY Drivers License Facility." Some may believe that to be the Department of Motor Vehicles. Well, New York State officials are telling residents that whoever is sending these false messages are attempting to steal your personal information. The State Department of Consumer Protection defines phishing scams as, "fraudulent messages designed to obtain data or sensitive personal information to be used to commit identity theft or trick the recipient into installing malicious software onto a computer or mobile device."

Courtesy of The New York State Dept. of Consumer Protection
Courtesy of The New York State Dept. of Consumer Protection
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State Officials say the scam messages notify the recipient that they need to update their data for their current NY Driver's License. The Department of Consumer Protection and DMV are telling those people who get the text message (which you can see above) to delete it immediately. When faced with a possible phishing scam such as this, the New York State Consumer Protection Department is offering the following tips.

  • DO exercise caution with all communications you receive, including those that appear to be from a trusted entity.  Inspect the sender’s information to confirm the message was generated from a legitimate source.
  • DO keep an eye out for telltale signs of phishing - poor spelling or grammar, the use of threats, the URL does not match that of the legitimate site. If the message does not feel right, chances are it is not.
  • DON’T click on links embedded in an unsolicited message from an unverified source.
  • DON’T send your personal information via text.  Legitimate businesses will not ask users to send sensitive personal information through text message.
  • DON’T post sensitive information online.  The less information you post, the less data you make available to a cybercriminal for use in developing a potential attack or scams.

At this point we're no stranger to scams in the form of email, texts or even phone calls. While some are aware of these attempts and are fully aware of them, there are still many who need the reminder. You can find more tips to prevent identity theft you can visit https://dos.ny.gov/identity-theft-prevention-and-mitigation-program.

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