Here’s the thing about the text you may have received from the DMV.
It isn’t real.
Nor do we have a DMV. (If the scammers happen to be reading this, it’s the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.)
And Maine Code 15C-16.003 doesn’t exist.
Nice try, though.
Many Mainers — including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who oversees the BMV and probably knows a thing or two about the bureau’s procedures — on Monday morning received a text informing them that an unresolved traffic violation would result in their driver’s license being suspended starting Tuesday, according to the Maine secretary of state’s office.
Drivers also face a suspension of their vehicle registration, additional charges, a damaged credit rating and “possible legal prosecution,” according to the scammers.
“Report the text as junk, and whatever you do, don’t click on the link,” the secretary of state’s office said Monday.
The BMV will never notify you of a license suspension in a text message. In fact, no government agency — the police, IRS, etc. — will reach out to you via text to resolve outstanding warrants, fines and unpaid taxes. You can assume it’s a scam.
Maine isn’t the only place that’s been hit with an identical scam. These scam artists — who seem to be quite lazy and have recycled the same text nearly verbatim — have targeted a number of states, including New York and Virginia, as part of a nationwide phishing trip.
So don’t worry; you can get behind the wheel Tuesday without fear of being caught without a valid license. Unless, of course, you did something to warrant losing your license. In which case, grab a bus pass or lace up your shoes and hit the road.