ST. GEORGE — Utah Division of Motor Vehicles, Utah Department of Public Safety, Utah Department of Health, and the Weber-Morgan Health Department, are warning the public about a new phishing scam targeting Utahns.
According to a press release issued Monday by the Utah State Tax Commission, scammers are sending a fake text message, from what claims to be the “UTAH COVID-19 Vaccine Status Validation,” that asks recipients to validate their vaccination status on an embedded form on a website.
The website then falsely claims the Centers for Disease Control and Utah DMV require this “Waiver Validation Update,” which is not a process that exists, the news release states. The text asks for personal information such as a name, date of birth, Social Security number, driver license number, weight and ZIP code, and doesn’t ask anything about COVID-19. This is a scam and no response should be given.
So far, the scam appears to have targeted people in Weber and Morgan counties, who reported it to the Weber-Morgan Health Department.
“The DMV does not ask for this type of information,” Jason Gardner, public information officer for the Utah State Tax Commission, said in the news release. “Always be suspicious of unsolicited attachments or links asking for your personal information.”
Feodora Chiosea, iStock/Getty Images Plus, St. George News
Utah state government entities do not require validation of vaccination status. Some private sector businesses may ask for proof of vaccination by showing a physical or digital vaccine record.
It is recommended that anyone who filled out the scam form take precautions to monitor for identity theft.
Scammers launched a similar fraudulent text message in July 2021. That message pretended to come from the UDOT and asked people to verify their driver’s license information.
If you are the victim of a cybercrime, contact your local law enforcement agency. In addition, you can report cybercrimes to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Cybercrime often crosses state or international borders. Trained analysts review and research the complaints and disseminate them to the proper federal, state, local or international law enforcement agencies.
For more information on cybercrimes, visit this website.
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