Motorists are being warned to take steps to protect themselves from fraud after scam emails claiming to be from the DVLA have been sent to thousands of drivers.
The fraudulent emails, which contains a link to a website that resembles a legitimate website, instructs victims to enter their licence details and a means of payment like a debit card number.
Online scammers can then use the card information to pay for goods and services or, worse still, use the motorist’s personal details from their driving licence to commit identity theft.
Recently, the DVLA has stated that it’s aware of a number of websites and scam email campaigns passing themselves off as official sites, with some claiming to offer additional services.
However, the body warned that falling for the fraudster’s tricks could leave drivers victims of theft and stressed that these services are “in no way affiliated with DVLA”.
The DVLA said: “We don’t send e-mails with links to websites asking you to confirm your driving licence number or payment information. We strongly advise anyone who receives one of these or any similar e-mail not to open the link, and delete the email.”
It added: “The government - led by Cabinet Office’s Government Digital Service - will continue to investigate reports of organisations which may be actively misleading users about their services or acting illegally, taking swift action when necessary.”
Last year, the DVLA warned against a similar campaign which aimed to exploit drivers’ uncertainty following the phasing out of the traditional paper tax disc.
Similar messages, which again claimed to be from the DVLA and asked recipients to click on an email link, caused the government to issue a statement urging drivers to report the emails to authorities.
It claims that such sites and emails “often break the search engine providers' terms and conditions”, and should be reported in order to be removed from any online search results.
The DVLA added: “By using the online driving licence or vehicle tax services on GOV.UK, you can be sure that you are dealing directly with DVLA - and you will not be charged any additional fees.
“Always start at www.gov.uk rather than via a search engine where less honest sites might appear in the sponsored links or paid for section.”