FLORENCE, S.C. — Yet another form of scam that tries to get your money under the guise of a law enforcement agency is making its way around parts of South Carolina.
The Florence Police Department released a warning along with a picture of an email that, at first glance, may look fairly legitimate. But the department says that an email requesting payment for a traffic violation in Florence is fake.
Florence Police said a resident received the email and passed it along.
The email claims to be a notice that the recipient has been cited with a traffic violation for which they must pay within 72 hours, though generously offering payment plans if necessary.
The email includes a violation - in this case speeding - a city, a state, and even an approximate street address. The address, in this case, located on S. Irby Street, really is a location in the city of Florence.
The email claims to be sent "on behalf of your local Department of Motor Vehicles" and urges the recipient to pay online through an "EasyPay Center" and not to mail checks. It even gives a link if you wish to contest the fake citation.
Florence Police, however, suggest not to click any part of it.
"The links and phone numbers listed in the email are at best invalid or even worse intended to capture your personal and financial data," the department said.
The department warns that most departments issue citations in person. The safest bet, a spokesperson said on the department's Facebook page, is to search for the department's name and phone number separately and call them directly. Never call or email a number in a potential scam email.
The email itself also has a couple of warning signs that may not be obvious the first time someone reads it.
While the "From" section shows the ticket says it is from the "Department of Motor Vehicles," it doesn't suggest what city or state it is referring to.
The address itself is also listed as "violations@court-cases-online.org" which also doesn't appear to be connected to any particular government or law enforcement agency.
Another warning sign typically associated with most scams is a request or demand that the recipient pay through a provided online service and not by paper check to the agency in question.
And finally, while it does mention a city for the violation, nowhere in the email does the sender mention a specific agency.