The Hawaii County Department of Finance, Vehicle Registration and Licensing (VRL) division, is warning about a scam claiming to offer "DMV refunds."
The scam is initiated by a text message coming from an out-of-state number.
“Official correspondence between the Hawaii County VRL and the public is issued via hard copy letter and sent to the known address in the VRL database,” according to West Hawaii Today.
The Hawaii County Department of Finance, VRL Division, does not commonly issue refunds, but if they did, a notice would be sent through the mail to an address in their database.
If the text message was sent to you, do not click on the link, the county warns. The public is reminded that the County of Hawaii does not have a Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). This term is more commonly associated with licensing and registration offices on the mainland. Also, the county has no means to send text messages to individual cell phones.
West Hawaii Today suggests calling the Hawaii Police Department nonemergency line at 808-935-3311 if you have fallen victim to the scam.