The New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and Department of Health are warning New Yorkers of two new text message phishing schemes. Phishing texts are fraudulent messages designed to obtain 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 that the illegitimate text messages ask recipients to verify their driver’s license information and to validate their COVID-19 status. Examples of the text messages can be found at https://dmv.ny.gov/more-info/phishing-examples.
Scammers are also exploiting vaccine requirement policies to try to steal people’s personal and private information. The illegitimate text message attempts to impersonate the NYS Department of Health and tells the recipient they are required to enter their information to validate their vaccination status.
Anyone receiving such text messages should delete them right away.
To help protect against phishing or smishing (SMS phishing) scams, the NYS Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) recommends 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 messages.
•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.
For additional information on phishing scams, as well as steps to mitigate a phishing attempt, visit the NYS Office of Information Technology Services Phishing Awareness resources page at https://its.ny.gov/resources.
Provided information and photos
Samples of phishing text message.
