Illinoisans are being warned of a pair of scams aimed at defrauding residents statewide.
Secretary of State Jessie White issued the warning today of the scams involving license plate stickers as well as text messages.
White says in the first scam, unsolicited text messages are being sent by scammers claiming to be from the Illinois Secretary of State. The text messages contain vague references to “Problems with your information” and another reference to “*IL* Secretary of State.” Each text also contains a link attributed to “uipendingcases.org.”
White says the text is a scam and recipients should not click on the link or provide any information. He says visiting the website could place malware on the recipients’ devices or trick them into disclosing sensitive personal information.
The Secretary of State’s office never requests personal information, like a Social Security number, via text message.
In the second scam, fraudulent websites are offering online vehicle registration renewals for license plate stickers and then charging residents an additional fee for the registration.
White warns Illinoisans that one particular website — IllinoisCarReg.com, is misleading customers with an unauthorized website promoting online license plate sticker renewals.
Once the customer provides personal information, the sham company charges the customer a fee of $39.99, in addition to the sticker fee. White says this company, which has websites for multiple states, is misleading residents across the nation.
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the company in an effort to shut it down over concerns of how the company may be using the personal data that it obtains from customers.
Individuals who feel they have been defrauded by this scheme are encouraged to contact their credit card company to dispute the extra fee charge.
Anyone with questions about text message scams or identity theft can call the Illinois Attorney General’s Consumer Fraud Hotline at 800-386-5438