The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is warning drivers of a phone scam involving people posing as DMV employees in a ploy to obtain personal information.
According to the DMV, the scam involves unknown people calling Californians from a blocked phone number, pretending to be staffers offering to reschedule a DMV appointment. The individuals then ask drivers for personal information, such as a social security number, date of birth, home address and driver’s license number.
The DMV said driver should be aware that this is a scam, as the DMV does not call customers asking for personal information like this. The DMV said drivers should never provide those confidential details by phone or email to anyone claiming to be a DMV employee.
“Anyone who receives such a call should know it is a scam to steal your identity,” said California DMV Director Jean Shiomoto.
Californians are urged to report DMV scams like this by filing a complaint with the DMV Investigations Division fraud hotline at (866) 658-5758 or by e-mail to dlfraud@dmv.ca.gov. Drivers can also mail a record of complaint form and report such scams to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
For more information on guarding oneself against identity theft, visit the FTC website.
