Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles is warning of a phishing text scam where you're asked to give out personal information about your driver's license and your COVID19 vaccination status.
The DMV says the texts are designed to get your 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.
The DMV says illegitimate text messages ask recipients to verify their driver's license information and to validate their COVID-19 status, like the one pictured below.
Anyone who received such a text message should delete it right away.
To protect against phishing scams, the NYS Office of Information Technology Service (ITS) has issued the following precautions:
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 scam.
