The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) has warned of an ongoing email phishing campaign using fake vehicle license renewal reminders, 1 News reports. The emails appear legitimate and contain the NZTA’s branding, but they link to a malicious online renewal transaction form designed to steal financial information.
New Zealanders are urged to carefully check any email they receive from the NZTA to verify that the email is sent from the “nzta.govt.nz” domain. The agency also emphasized that real license renewal emails will contain specific details about the recipient’s vehicle, such as their license plate number, vehicle make, and the expiration date of their current vehicle license. While scammers could potentially find this information and incorporate it into targeted scams, the current phishing campaign isn’t focused on specific individuals.
If you’re unsure of a license renewal email’s legitimacy, the NZTA asks that you call them at 0800 108 809 to find out. Recipients of the emails are also asked to report the messages to their local police cybercrime unit. The NZTA requests that recipients move the email to their junk folder rather than deleting it, in case the police need to examine it. Additionally, if you’ve already filled out the form in one of these phishing emails, the agency recommends that you contact your bank immediately to stop any fraudulent payments.
Scams like this are extremely common in every country. It’s good that the NZTA is sounding the alarm on this scam, but people need to know how to defend themselves even before they’ve been warned about a specific phishing campaign. As soon as an email asks you to click on a link or provide sensitive information, you should immediately treat it as a potential scam and look for additional warning signs. New-school security awareness training can teach your employees how to spot and thwart scams like this on their own.
1 News has the story: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/nzta-warns-sophisticated-phishing-scam-involving-fake-vehicle-licence-renewal-email
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