Over the last week, the NJCCIC has received several incident reports from NJ residents regarding an SMS text phishing (SMiShing) scam impersonating the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). These messages claim that the user has an outstanding traffic ticket and payment is due. If not paid by May 29, the user will have their vehicle registration and driving privileges suspended, receive a toll booth charge increase, and their credit score will be impacted. The URL displayed in the message includes “ezpassnj” and “.gov” in an attempt to appear legitimate. The message itself does not allow the user to click the included link directly but instead instructs them to reply to the message with “Y” and reopen the message to click the link or to copy the URL to their browser. These links lead to fraudulent websites that attempt to extract personally identifiable information, financial details, or account credentials.

This SMiShing scheme is similar to others that have circulated impersonating NJ toll services and EZ-Pass claiming the user has an outstanding toll that needs to be paid to avoid a late fee.

The NJ MVC only sends text messages to remind residents about scheduled MVC appointments. It does not send text messages regarding driver’s licenses or vehicle registration status.