Fraud Watch Notice: Office of the Clerk & Recorder

Office of the Clerk and Recorder Official Communication

Fraud Watch! Scammers Impersonate the Colorado DMV

The Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has recently seen an increase in call volume from customers inquiring about texts, phone calls or emails from scammers directly impersonating the DMV, falsely claiming recipients have unpaid tickets and threatening severe consequences such as prosecution, suspension of vehicle registration, and revocation of driving privileges. These claims are entirely false and designed to intimidate individuals into immediate compliance.

These deceptive text messages and emails are crafted to appear as official communications from the Colorado DMV. Their primary goal is to frighten recipients into clicking malicious links and divulging personal or financial information under the guise of settling non-existent violations.

For your awareness, the DMV has taken specific steps to notify the public, including: 

Additionally, we have front loaded our call center welcome message to include the following language:

"Are you calling about a text message that you received regarding a ticket or license suspension? Please be advised that these are SPAM and Phishing attempts and are not communications from the DMV. Do not open or click on the link provided and delete this message."

It is critical for all Coloradans to understand: These messages are NOT from the Colorado DMV. The DMV does not initiate contact via unsolicited text messages and emails to demand payment for tickets or to threaten prosecution or suspension of privileges in this manner.

We are encouraging anyone who receives one of these fraudulent texts to not click on the links and to report it to the Federal Trade Commission’s Colorado DMV customer fraud portal and/or the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

For questions or concerns, please contact [email protected].