PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — PennDOT has issued a warning for people renewing their vehicle registration or driver's license online: Some third-party websites are deceiving customers and charging them fees that the state doesn't actually assess.
Diego Sandino, PennDOT community relations coordinator for driver and vehicle services, said drivers need to exercise caution and make sure they are on the right site to renew these important documents.
"There are third-party websites that can appear official and often pay search engines to appear at the top of a search result for common terms like 'renew vehicle registration' or 'driver's license,' " he said.
Some of those sites do look official, he added, but they are not affiliated with PennDOT.
"There are no additional service or convenience fees for completing online transactions on the PennDOT website," he said. "So, that's one of the ways that you would know if you're on the official PennDOT website."
Sandino said PennDOT also won't ask you to send copies of your expiring license or vehicle registration.
"For the safety of our customers' identity, PennDOT will never ask nor accept any identity documents over the internet or over text messages for any reason," he assured. "Any website or text message claiming to provide this service is not affiliated with PennDOT.
"Customers should not submit any images, personal documents to such website or text as they will not be transmitted to PennDOT and could be used for fraudulent purposes."
Sandino said the only official online PennDOT presence can be found at dmv.pa.gov.
