BALLANTYNE — “After officially liquidating my entire savings for what turned out to be a very convincing scam, I’ve come to terms with the fact that I had plenty of reasons to fall for it.”
“Was it weird that the number had a Filipino area code? Sure. But I figured that’s just where the DMV keeps its cloud servers. I’ve never taken the express lane in my life. But the message said if I didn’t pay $15,000 by July 14th, my vehicle registration would be suspended and I’d be reported to ‘the national violation database,’ which definitely sounds real and terrifying.”
“The website looked pretty legit. There was a stock photo of a courthouse, a spinning DMV logo, and a countdown clock labeled ‘pending enforcement.’ They asked for my debit card, my Social Security number, and a selfie with my driver’s license. I sent it all. I also threw in a picture of my car, just in case that helped them process things faster.”
“In conclusion: It all just seemed really… thorough. Like, if you’re going to scam someone, at least put effort into it. And they did. So I did my part too.”
