PUTNAM SHERIFF WARNS OF NEW D.M.V. IMPERSONATION SCAM
The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Eddie Farris, has issued a warning about a prevalent text message scam targeting residents in the area. The fraudulent messages falsely claim to originate from the State of Tennessee DMV, presenting themselves as a “final warning” for an outstanding traffic ticket and urging recipients to click a provided link to make a payment.
Authorities emphasize that this is a phishing scam designed to steal personal or financial information, and legitimate government agencies never solicit payments or sensitive details via unsolicited text messages. Sheriff Farris stresses that scammers continually evolve their tactics to deceive people, advising anyone who receives such a message to avoid clicking the link, delete it immediately, block the sender, and contact the Sheriff’s Office if concerned.
To protect against these and similar text-based scams, residents should never click links from unknown numbers, refrain from sharing personal or financial information through texts, always verify suspicious communications directly with official sources like the Sheriff’s Office, and promptly delete and block suspicious messages.
