The NZ Transport Agency is advising people to delete widely distributed 'phishing scam' e-mails which ask recipients to provide their driver licence details on a counterfeit website, and is offering to waive the fee for a replacement licence for anyone caught out by the scam.
Since the agency first issued warnings about the scam yesterday morning new versions of the original phishing e-mail have appeared. The messages purport to be from the 'NZTA Services Team', and ask people to provide their driver licence details on a counterfeit website.
“These emails are not from the NZTA. They are part of a phishing scam which leads people to a counterfeit website. If you receive one of these messages you should delete it immediately,” said NZTA spokesperson Andy Knackstedt.
The NZTA has advised the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Internal Affairs of these unauthorised e-mails, and both organisations have added them to their lists of scam alerts.
The NZTA urges anyone who has inadvertently provided their driver licence details on the counterfeit website to phone our contact centre on 0800 822 422 and have their licence cancelled. This will ensure that the licence details will not be validated if someone attempts to use them for illegitimate purposes.
The agency is offering to waive the normal fee of $38.20 and provide a replacement licence at no charge to anyone who has been caught up in the phishing scam.
The phishing e-mails have also asked people to provide credit card details on the false site, and the NZTA advises anyone who has done so to contact their bank immediately to cancel the card.
