Fall River Police warning residents of scam concerning RMV, fines

The Fall River Police Department is warning the public of a scam that has hit the Fall River area.

FRPD have received several reports of fake emails coming from the RMV related to outstanding fines for a traffic violation and issued a statement on what to look out for and avoid.

“Please be careful if you receive one of these warnings as they appear to be genuine but they are not. Tips when determining the authenticity, citizens should be aware of the following:

“Massachusetts uses the abbreviation “RMV.” Any website using the phrase “Department of Motor Vehicles,” “Division of Motor Vehicles,” or “DMV” should be avoided.

“Make sure the Commonwealth’s seal is located somewhere on the page and that the website’s URL contains mass.gov. This will help reassure that it’s a government website. If it cannot be found, leave the site immediately.

“Make sure you can find both the RMV’s mailing address and statewide locations under “Contact Us” at the top of the page.

“The Registry of Motor Vehicles will never charge you to check your license, registration, or title status. If the site requires payment to access this information, it’s an unsecured mimic site.

“At Mass.gov/RMV, a customer will never be charged to access Registry forms and information, but unofficial third-party sites may charge for this service. Their information is also not guaranteed to be accurate.

“The Registry of Motor Vehicles never charges for address changes either. If you use a mimic site, the change cannot be guaranteed to have actually gone through.”