You Will Probably Get This Text Message—You Must Delete It
Delete this message immediately.
There is a new attack targeting your phone. After months of warnings to pay overdue road tolls that have swept across America, that scam is finally on the decline. But there's a new threat taking its place — and this one is worse.
'The unpaid toll scam texts have seen a significant decline recently,' Guardio told me, 'with the peak number of messages sent occurring around March - April.' But they have been replaced with 'more sophisticated' DMV texts, which are 'longer messages tailored to each state,' and which are also 'more threatening.'
Guardio says its team 'spotted a 773% surge in DMV scam texts during the first week of June,' which shows no signs of slowing. 'These scam texts lead to phishing websites designed to steal people's credit card information and make unauthorized charges.' That means you are likely to get this text at least once, probably many times.
According to Malwarebytes, '44% of people encounter a mobile scam every single day, while 78% encounter scams at least weekly.' The FBI has warned users to delete all such texts on their phones, and multiple U.S. police forces and agencies (1,2,3) have issued warnings this week given new attacks. Just as with the unpaid tolls, these are driven by Chinese criminal gangs, outside the reach of U.S. law enforcement.
DMV text surge
The DMV texts claim an outstanding traffic violation fine needs to be paid, they threaten to suspend vehicle registrations and even enforce driving bans if it remains unpaid. The link in the text purports to open a payment website for the state's DMV.
'Scammers generate a new domain for almost every DMV text they send,' Guardio says. 'The format is usually the name of a state followed by a generic domain. Sometimes they include '.gov' as part of the URL to make the website appear legitimate.'
The top-level domains used are clearly not associated with any state DMV, and if you can spot them within the link you will know it's a scam for sure. 'The top three domain extensions they use across most links are .cc, .icu, and .vip.'
DMV texts
Here are some example links, to give you an idea of what you're likely to see:
The DMV scam has not yet rooted into the public consciousness in the same way as unpaid tolls — albeit that took more than a year and still claims victims to this day. But DMV warnings are now being publicized by agencies and law enforcement and this scam will now surge week by week until it's everywhere.
Just as with the toll texts, these will hit every major city and state in time. Fox News reports that it is already 'targeting drivers in states like Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Vermont, Texas, North Carolina and even Washington, D.C.'
And it is only just getting started.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBS News
24 minutes ago
- CBS News
Judge orders Kilmar Abrego Garcia's release before trial, but he will likely be detained by ICE
A Tennessee judge on Sunday ordered the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, whose mistaken deportation has become a flashpoint in President Trump's immigration crackdown, while he awaits a federal trial on human smuggling charges. But he is not expected to be allowed to go free. At his June 13 detention hearing, prosecutors said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would take Abrego Garcia into custody if he were released on the criminal charges, and he could be deported before he has a chance to stand trial. U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Holmes has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday to discuss the conditions of Abrego Garcia's release. The U.S. government has already filed a motion to appeal the judge's release order. Holmes acknowledged in her ruling Sunday that determining whether Abrego Garcia should be released is "little more than an academic exercise" because ICE will likely detain him. But the judge wrote that everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence and "a full and fair determination of whether he must remain in federal custody pending trial." Holmes wrote that the government failed to prove that Abrego was a flight risk, that he posed a danger to the community or that he would interfere with proceedings if released. "Overall, the Court cannot find from the evidence presented that Abrego's release clearly and convincingly poses an irremediable danger to other persons or to the community," the judge wrote. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the smuggling charges that his attorneys have characterized as an attempt to justify the deportation mistake after the fact. The acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Rob McGuire, argued on June 13 that the likely attempt by ICE to try to deport him was one reason to keep him in jail. But Holmes said then that she had no intention of "getting in the middle of any ICE hold." "If I elect to release Mr. Abrego, I will impose conditions of release, and the U.S. Marshal will release him." If he is released into ICE custody, that is "above my pay grade," she said. The judge suggested that the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security could work out between themselves whether the government's priority is to try him on the criminal charges or deport him. No date has been set for the trial. Will Allensworth, an assistant federal public defender representing Abrego Garcia at the detention hearing, told Holmes that "it's not necessarily accurate that he would be immediately deported." A 2019 immigration judge's order prevents Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland, from being deported to his home country of El Salvador, Allensworth said in court. That's because he faces a credible threat from gangs there, according to court papers. The government could deport him to a third country, but immigration officials would first be required to show that third country was willing to keep him and not simply deport him back to El Salvador, Allensworth said. The smuggling charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop for speeding in Tennessee during which Abrego Garcia was driving a vehicle with nine passengers. Although officers suspected possible smuggling, he was allowed to go on his way with only a warning. At the detention hearing, McGuire said cooperating witnesses have accused Abrego Garcia of trafficking drugs and firearms and of abusing the women he transported, among other claims. Although he is not charged with such crimes, McGuire said they showed Abrego Garcia to be a dangerous person who should remain in jail pretrial. Abrego Garcia's attorneys have characterized the smuggling case as a desperate attempt to justify the mistaken deportation. The investigation was launched weeks after the U.S. government deported Abrego Garcia and the Supreme Court ordered the administration to facilitate his return amid mounting public pressure. Chris Newman, an attorney who represents Abrego Garcia's family, previously told CBS News, "The Trump administration is very invested in making this a referendum on the immigration debate, which, as you know, has become coarsened and polarized." "And that is one way to look at it. And I think certainly a lot of people view it that way. I don't view it that way. I view this as a core constitutional order case, a core due process case," Newman said. "And it just so happens that a Salvadoran immigrant is defending bedrock constitutional protections for all of us." Most people in ICE custody who are facing criminal charges are not kept in the U.S. for trial but deported, Ohio State University law professor César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández said. The U.S. will likely try to deport Abrego Garcia quickly without going before an immigration judge, the professor said. The government would not need a conviction to deport him because Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. illegally. "The legal standard is laxer," García Hernández said. "The government's argument is on stronger legal footing." However an immigration judge rules, the decision can be appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals, García Hernández said. And the board's ruling can then be contested in a federal appeals court.
Yahoo
24 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Sophie Cunningham Assigns Blame For The Caitlin Clark Incident
Sophie Cunningham Assigns Blame For The Caitlin Clark Incident originally appeared on The Spun. Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has broken her silence on coming to Caitlin Clark's defense. Cunningham, who was traded from the Phoenix Mercury to the Indiana Fever this offseason, came to Clark's defense during a recent Indiana Fever vs. Connecticut Sun game earlier this week. The Fever topped the Sun, 88-71, but in the third quarter, all hell broke loose. Advertisement Clark was poked in the eye by Sun guard Jacy Sheldon. Clark and Sheldon then got into it, before the Indiana Fever guard was knocked to the ground by another Sun player. Multiple technical fouls were awarded. Later in the game, Cunningham took Sheldon to the ground on a fastbreak layup attempt. She ended up getting ejected from the game for the foul. Over the weekend, Cunningham, who starred collegiately at Missouri, broke her silence on the incident. She made it clear that she believes that's her role with the team. 'I think the refs had a lot to do with that. It was a build up for a couple years now of them just not, not protecting the star player in the WNBA. And so at the end of the day, I'm going to protect my teammates, that's what I do," she said. Sophie Cunningham spoke Cunningham believes that it was the referees' fault for letting things escalate to that point. She believes that other teams have gotten away with too much when it comes to defending Clark. It clearly doesn't sound like Cunningham is planning on changing anything moving forward. Advertisement Sophie Cunningham Assigns Blame For The Caitlin Clark Incident first appeared on The Spun on Jun 22, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jun 22, 2025, where it first appeared.
CBS News
28 minutes ago
- CBS News
3 people shot, wounded in house near Elgin, Illinois
Two men and a woman were in the hospital Sunday evening after being shot inside a home in unincorporated Elgin, Illinois. The shooting happened just after midnight on Gingerwood Lane in Elgin. Several dozen people were in the home for a family gathering at the time. The three victims were expected to survive the shooting. No one was in custody late Sunday, but CBS News Chicago did reach out to the Kane County Sheriff's office for more information about potential suspects. The Sheriff's office did say the incident was isolated and there was no threat to the public.
