ATLANTA — If you get a text that appears to be from the Georgia Department of Driver Services claiming your driver’s license is at risk, delete it.
One of the latest scams making the rounds involves text messages claiming you have an unpaid speeding ticket and could lose your license.
Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray got one of these and texts and checked with DDS leaders, who confirmed it’s not real.
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“We’re not gonna contact you about an unpaid parking ticket, and we’re not gonna suspend your license and tell you over a text, nor ask for money," Susan Sports with DDS said.
She says that regardless of what the texts say, delete them. They will only communicate with you by mail.
“The text scams are getting more sophisticated, but I just urge all of our customers, anyone who gets the text, just delete, delete, delete,” Sports said.
In recent days, text scams impersonating the DDS are on the rise.
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Some even include official-looking notices and a QR code that will steal your personal account information.
Last year, Channel 2 Action News Investigates told you about a very similar scheme after concerned drivers heading to a Peach Pass service center were worried about toll bill texts, which were also fake.
Michael O’Brien helps cell phone providers identify and block these kinds of texts.
“You want to avoid anything where you’re interacting, so that’s why it’s important not to respond, not to hit reply, not to call them back, but instead block the number and then hit the report as spam button,” he said. “That alerts your phone network operator to be able to go ahead and classify that, categorize it. The larger the collection, it allows them to effectively fingerprint these fraudulent messages and block them in the future.”
DDS also suggests downloading their digital driver’s license, which will alert you in real time to any issues with your license.
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