CHICAGO (WLS) — A new wave of scam texts is hitting phones across the Chicago area and nationwide.
The ABC7 I-Team is investigating the incredible increase in the intimidating messages.
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The I-Team investigated tollway scam texts. Now, there’s a significant increase in DMV scam texts. They’re threatening to suspend people’s licenses unless payment is made. It’s all fraudulent, aiming to steal from victims.
The texts appear official. They claim to be from the “DMV,” telling scam victims they owe money for a ticket or driver’s license, and “driving privileges” will be suspended. However, it’s entirely a scam.
Karin Zilberstein with the cybersecurity company Guardio said its experts found a 773% spike in the DMV scam texts at the beginning of June.
“They are hitting hard,” Zilberstein said. “We are actually seeing the birth of a new scam.”
However, DMVs don’t collect ticket fines. City and village offices do.
“Some are mentioning traffic violations,” Zilberstein said. “Another one concerns unpaid vehicle registration. Various excuses are used to persuade people to pay for something.”
RELATED | Illinois Secretary of State issues warning about DMV text message scam
The texts can also threaten victims with a “suspended vehicle registration.” The links on the texts go to fake websites that look like official government pages.
Guardio provided the I-Team with some examples, including a fake Illinois site.
“It just looks like it’s a .gov link, but if you look really carefully, that’s not exactly .gov,” Zilberstein said. “It’s .gov with a dash, and a bunch of other stuff.”
Once victim’s click, their data is also up for grabs.
But scammers don’t only want money, they want information.
“The most important piece of information they want is your credit card details, but other information is useful too… to be used for further scamming,” Zilberstein said.
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