An email scammer posing as the Department of Motor Vehicles is targeting Dalton, Georgia, residents with a message claiming they owe money for a speeding citation. The message is bogus, according to the Dalton Police Department.
Several Dalton residents reported the fake email to the police department Friday morning. The message, which was sent by the email address violations@citygovernment.co.gov, states that the recipient has been cited for a traffic violation and must pay the fine within 72 hours. The message then has a table that states the violation was for speeding and gives an address in Dalton along Walnut Avenue as the location where the speeding violation supposedly occurred. The message then instructs the recipient not to mail a check, but to click a link for the “EasyPay” center. There is also a link to contest the violation. Do not click any links in this message.
Government agencies will never require payment for service fees or fines using only one method of payment. Further, the Department of Motor Vehicles does not issue speeding citations. There are also no speed cameras or red light cameras in Dalton, so the only way a driver will get a citation for a moving violation within Dalton would be by hand from an officer during a traffic stop.
The Dalton Police Department encourages anyone who is in doubt about whether an email or letter supposedly from a government agency or utility company is legitimate to contact that agency directly to confirm the message (using contact information in public directories and not just the contact information that appears in the suspicious message). Anyone who feels they may have fallen victim to this scam can make a report with the DPD at 301 Jones Street.