Police have issued an urgent warning about a new DVLA scam with spoof emails.
The message claims that the victim’s tax payment has failed due to incorrect billing details being entered.
Scammers use the Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency’s logo to appear legitimate, telling motorists that they must hand over the correct details or face an £1,000 fine.
Greater Manchester Police issued the appeal, warning that emails were being “sent to innocent people.”
They also advised that anyone who receives a similar suspicious email should block the sender and avoid clicking the link under any circumstances.
The email says: “Your latest vehicle tax payment failed, it appears that some of the billing details associated with you might have expired or were otherwise changed.
“Our system will automatically retry the billing process once your billing details have been updated.
“It can take up to 5 working days for the records to update, to continue to the update page, please update your vehicle tax details.
“Please note: If you don’t pay your vehicle tax on time, you may be fined up to £1,000, or your details may be passed to a debt collection agency.”
Greater Manchester Police also issued advice, warning people that the DVLA only sends correspondence via post, never email – a key indicator that the email is fraudulent.
The National Fraud Helpline reported on a similar scam earlier this year targeting motorists with fake parking fine texts.
Fraudsters sent text messages claiming that they needed to pay an overdue fine, prompting them to click on a link taking them to a legitimate looking government website.
Consumer group Which? warned the public to stay alert to the scam, which demanded a £25 fine while also collecting victims’ personal and financial details for future fraudulent use.
Have you lost money to a DVLA scam? Contact National Fraud Helpline. Call 0333 0033218 or fill out our Claim Form.