By Pat Culverhouse

Local residents apparently are being targeted by another scam and this one claims to be an automated notice from the state Dept. of Motor Vehicles concerning alleged “unresolved traffic violation payment.”

Minden Chief of Police Jared McIver said his department has already received multiple complaints.

“This scam, claiming to be from the DMV, is going around Minden right now,” McIver said early Monday. “The notice claims the recipient has failed to pay some sort of traffic violation, and it cites actions that can be taken if payment is not received by March 18.”

McIver said the notice appears valid, giving steps that can be taken, including suspension of the recipient’s drivers license for up to 30 days, suspension of the vehicle registration, and additional late penalties and “administrative processing fees” for overdue payment.

“It even claims that any unresolved balance may be referred to a collection agency and result in further legal proceedings,” he said.

McIver said he had no knowledge of the Dept. of Motor Vehicles sending any such automated notices.

In the “notice” is what is referred to as “the official Louisiana website: https://expresslane.org-knne.top/pay.”

“We would strongly advise against clicking on that website. It might look official, but by doing so there’s a strong possibility that some sort of virus may be released into your system,” the chief said.

Unfortunately, the Minden PD has no way of tracing the source of the notices, McIver said.

“If anyone should receive this, I would not recommend anyone try to make contact with DMV through any website or phone number contained in the notice,” he said. “We suggest they go to the official DMV website to obtain the phone number or email information.”