Manatee County Tax Collector and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office say Text Scammers Are Now Posing as The DMV. Be Alert & Don’t Get Scammed
Yes,,, scammers are now texting... The Manatee County Tax Collector and the Manatee County Sheriff's Office is warning that scammers are now texting.. And trying to take your money…
If you get a text message from what appears to be the DMV asking for personal information, it’s a scam.
In fact, the Manatee County Tax Collector’s Office. is reminding everyone to be alert with the rise of motor vehicle and driver license-related text message scams. The messages are made to “look like” they are from the Department of Motor Vehicles, or DMV, and include a link to a “fake DMV website” for the targeted individual to click on and provide their personal information.
Manatee County Tax Collector Ken Burton says… “Motor vehicle services are provided by different entities from state to state”. “A common misconception is that Florida Tax Collector offices are the DMV, which is who the sender of these messages is posing as. The bottom line is that we don’t want our residents thinking that these text messages are coming from our office. We would never send a text asking for payment or personal information and we urge everyone to be very careful when receiving messages like this.”
Scam Text Messages reported to the Manatee County Tax Collector have been varied in content from things like… requiring a payment, to: cashing in on a rebate/refund, or even… directing the individual to read an important notice. In all cases, the messages claim to be from the “DMV” or “Motor Vehicle Office” and give a call to action to click on a link, usually with a deadline to increase the urgency.
Tax Collector Burton says…. “Don’t click the link. Text scams are nothing new, but in the past few days we have seen an uptick of people receiving these motor vehicle related messages. I even received one myself yesterday. There is no better time than now to get the word out to use caution”.
Customers who receive text messages or phone calls they feel are fraudulent are encouraged to report the messages to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Crime Prevention Unit at …. www.ManateeSheriff.com … or to call: 941-747-3011 … ext. 2500.