Never click on anything you are unsure of.
Road tax is stressful – you have to have if your car, motorcycle, or any other vehicle is on the road itself. Even if you are exempt for paying – for instance, if you are disabled – you have to be registered.
Which means it’s the sort of thing that unscrupulous types can take advantage of.
The DVLA has issued a warning about a text scam going around that you should be aware of. Potential victims have been receiving the following text, telling them that that are owed a refund on their road tax of £50.
https://twitter.com/claumeszaros/status/990514835090755584
We have recalculated your vehicle tax. You are owed £48.84 due to over payment. Click the secure link to claim your refund.
The DVLA have issued a warming, telling anyone who receives the message to delete it, and that they would not send that information via text message.
https://twitter.com/DVLAgovuk/status/991219326450589696
Hi, we don't send text messages about vehicle tax refunds, it is a scam. Please delete the message and don't click the link.
So we haven’t clicked that link, for obvious reasons – but it is almost definitely a ‘phishing’ scam.
According to
government advice, key signs of phishing and spam messages to be aware of are:
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You don’t know the sender.
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Contains misspellings (for example ‘p0rn’ with a zero) designed to fool spam filters.
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Makes an offer that seems too good to be true.
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The subject line and contents do not match.
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Contains an urgent offer end date (for example “Buy now and get 50% off”).
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Contains a request to forward an email to multiple people, and may offer money for doing so.
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Contains a virus warning.
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Contains attachments, which could include .exe files.
Crucially, you never click on any link you are unsure of, or open an attachment from an unknown sender.
