Hot off the heels of last week’s fake text about unpaid traffic citations is a new scam promising to put money back into your wallet.
The latest fake text scam claims that the recipient has an unclaimed balanced from something called “FL Safe Driver,” and that they have until June 3 to see if they qualify. The text ends by directing the recipient to a website.
The text has all of the hallmarks of a scam: It sounds too good to be true, urges them to take quick action and wants them to click on a link to a website that will likely ask the user for information the sender can use with nefarious intent.
Does Florida have a safe driver program?
Florida licenses have a “safe driver” designation that signifies a person has not been convicted of any traffic violations and has not had any at-fault accidents within a certain period of time.
Car insurance companies will also offer safe driving discounts for customers, but they aren’t strictly tied to the license designation. Most safe driving discounts require the driver to install an app on their phone that is used to measure how they drive.
Drivers who use these telematics programs can see significant savings if their driving habits qualify for the discount.
The important thing to note here is that the monetary gain is passed to the driver through a driver incentive program to which they consent. The money is not stashed away in a fund unknown to the driver.
‘FL Safe Driver’ site was created less than a week ago
By all accounts, the website domain shared in the “FL Safe Driver” scam text passes the sniff test of most link checkers, but there’s a pretty glaring red flag—the site was created on May 28, according to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), who manages the internet’s global domain name system (DNS).
Scam websites have short life spans, so any recently created site claiming to be from a company or a governmental entity should ring some alarm bells. The website’s top level domain, “.com,” is another red flag as government websites use “.gov.”
That brings up another important question: Who owns the website, and who is sending out the text?
The latter question is difficult to answer and the website itself has no branding—another red flag. However, with ICANN’s domain name registration data lookup tool, anyone can look up some basic information about a website.
Entering the site’s domain name into the tool provides a predictable outcome: The person who registered the domain name is anonymous, which is yet another check on the “Yes, this is a scam” checklist.
Tips on how to spot text message scams (and scams in general)
Scams have grown and evolved alongside technology, and they have become extremely sophisticated.
Some scams are easy to spot, but a growing number of scams pretending to be the IRS, DMV or other governmental entities have become so manipulative that they convince people they have no choice but to act.
The most important tip to remember is that you shouldn’t overestimate the sluggishness of corporate or government bureaucracy. If there is truly an issue that needs to be addressed, there will be time to resolve it.
If something feels off about certain communications, hang up the call or ignore the text and reach out to the entity directly through a source you know and trust. Explain to them what you received and verify its authenticity.
While scams have grown in complexity, they all tend to use the same methods of manipulation. Here are some general signs to look for:
What to do if you already gave a scammer your personal information
Recovering after a scam can be complicated, and no recovery plan looks exactly the same. Here are the steps the Federal Trade Commission recommends taking immediately:
Once you’ve taken these steps, you can start repairing the damage at your own pace.
Afterward, you can consider extending your fraud alert or credit freeze if needed. You will also want to be sure you review your credit reports often.
How to report fraud in Florida
Reporting fraud in Florida is as simple as visiting the Federal Trade Commission’s website and filing a report. You can report anything that you believe is a fraud or just bad business practices. Here’s how to get started:
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: New scam text says Florida drivers have unclaimed ‘Safe Driver’ balance. Don’t fall for it
Reporting by Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
