The FBI has issued a new warning to iPhone users about a text-message fraud that has been targeting them recently.
According to Forbes, message attacks on iPhone and Android have increased more than 700% this month. One nasty text that has circulated involves unscrupulous actors acting as the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and demanding money for outstanding tolls or penalties, threatening licence suspension or jail time.
According to Guardio, these DMV texts are more threatening than prior unpaid toll notifications that have been on people’s phones for over a year.
“These scam texts lead to phishing websites designed to steal people’s credit card information and make unauthorised charges,” Guardio told the newspaper.
Last week, WREG reported that the FBI is looking into the plan. FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Palmer told WREG that the DMV texts are a “copycat” of the toll scam.
“It costs next to nothing for them to use these algorithms to send these messages and calls out, but in return, they can achieve getting your personal information, putting malware on your phone, which then can go in and steal information from your device, or collect your payment information,” Palmer told the audience.
Palmer noted that when he received one of the texts, he immediately recognised linguistic indicators indicating that it was a scam.
“A number of things I noticed right away: the text message I received indicated it was from the North Tennessee Department of Motor Vehicles. So, obviously, there is no north or south Tennessee, which raises a red flag right away, and looking at the sender, the message I received was from email address @catlover.com, which is obviously not a government address,” Palmer explained.
The FBI added that legitimate government agencies will not contact you in this manner. The organisation also advises users not to click on links sent in text messages from unknown sources and to delete the texts “immediately.”
This wave of DMV scam mails has been reported across the country, including Tennessee, Arizona, New York, Minnesota, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, DC.
The FBI tells iPhone users to delete one text message. Immediately first appeared in Men’s Journal on June 16, 2025.
