Miami-Dade residents have been targeted by a phishing scam involving fraudulent texts alleging unpaid tolls, officials warned. According to the Miami-Dade County Office of the Tax Collector, scammers masquerade as the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and threaten consequences such as license suspension and legal action to lure victims into providing personal and financial information. Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez's office stated in a Thursday alert, "This is a calculated scam. It is a predatory and criminal effort to defraud our community by impersonating a trusted state agency and harvesting sensitive personal data," as mentioned in a report by NBC Miami.
These fake texts, received by residents in droves, prompt immediate payment through a deceptive link. Having seen a surge in scam reports, Fernandez emphasized that the DMV does not handle transactions via text message. He said, "The motor vehicle of the state of Florida never, never send text message to you to reinstate your driver license as a matter of fact this process need to be in person," in an interview by CBS News Miami.
Amidst this scam alert, Miami-Dade officials also spotlighted another fraudulent practice affecting residents: appointment scalping at the DMV. House Bill 0961, passed unanimously by the state legislature, imposes penalties of up to a $1,000 fine or a year in prison for scalping DMV appointments. These recent developments, combined with the phishing scam, pose ongoing challenges for local authorities working to protect residents' sensitive data and ensure fair access to DMV services.
Residents who have encountered these phishing messages are advised not to click any provided links, a strategy meant to avoid compromising personal and financial details. Fernandez's office is coordinating efforts with state and federal authorities to investigate and apprehend the perpetrators. Victims like Rowena Mendat's friend, who lost hundreds of dollars to the scam, underline the scam's potency. "She had a text message saying that she had to pay something and if it wasn't paid that she was going to have a suspended license," Mendat shared her experience to CBS News Miami.
