Author: City of Linden

Over the last week, hundreds of domains were registered to impersonate 20 states and establish toll scam websites. The domains aimed at NJ residents include URLs similar to “nj.gov**[.]help/mvc.”

The webpages use stolen branding and mimic the official Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) website’s look and feel. The webpage displays “Welcome to NJMVC.GOV,” but the actual URL ends with a .help top-level domain. We are aware that there are already incident reports of SMS phishing scams that include links to these websites. We anticipate a surge in scam texts targeting NJ residents.

These texts may claim there is an unpaid toll, threaten late fees, and direct recipients to fraudulent webpages.

• The NJ MVC only sends text messages to remind residents about scheduled MVC appointments.
• The NJ MVC does not send texts regarding outstanding toll payments.
• You can always check your toll service’s account by manually typing the official website URL into the browser, and not by clicking on a link provided in an email or text message.

Always remember the following.

• Avoid clicking links, responding to, or acting on unsolicited text messages.
• Confirm requests from senders via contact information obtained from verified and official sources.
• Report fraudulent activity to the Linden Police Department, to the NJCCIC, FTC, and FBI’s IC3, and forward the message to 7726 (SPAM).

Google recently ended critical security support for Android 12 and all prior versions of its mobile operating system. This poses a serious security risk to the over 40% of all Android devices that no longer have access to security patches. Immediate action is required for affected users, as these devices are now vulnerable to new malware and spyware attacks.

Any Android device incapable of updating to Android 13 or a newer version should promptly be replaced.

Hackers have been attempting to impersonate Linden Planning and Zoning Board officials to fraudulently solicit payments from applicants. Please remember that all City of Linden email addresses end in @linden-nj.gov. If you receive a suspicious request, do NOT respond, and do NOT send money. Instead, immediately contact our offices directly using a verified phone number or email address from our official website to confirm legitimacy.

Phishing remains one of the top attack vectors that hackers use to compromise accounts, steal credentials, gain remote access, and steal financial information. These email and SMS-based attacks are easy to distribute at scale and require little personalization, making them a commonly used tactic. Phishing attacks can now range from simple emails, to multi-stage campaigns that use artificial intelligence (AI) and imitate trusted brands.

For example, in a recent vishing campaign, hackers uses a phishing kit to create a custom phishing page, spoof the company’s IT help desk phone number, and contact a target! By spoofing a trusted phone number, hackers can impersonate the help desk to trick users into entering their credentials on a phishing page, while the phishing kit enables them to control what the target sees in real time.

In another campaign, hackers abused trusted services by sending phishing emails that include links to SharePoint, Google Drive, and OneDrive from compromised email addresses. These links enable hackers to deliver malicious payloads or steal credentials and can go undetected by email security systems.

What to do?

• ALWAYS exercise caution with communications from ANY senders, even those that appear to originate from legitimate platforms.
• Confirm requests from senders via contact information obtained from verified and official sources before taking action, such as clicking on links or opening attachments.
• Navigate directly to legitimate websites (instead of clicking on links embedded in emails) and verify them before submitting account credentials, providing personal or financial information, or downloading files.
• Users who submitted credit card information to suspicious webpages are advised to contact their banking institutions to report the fraudulent purchases immediately.
• Enable MFA and keep systems and browsers up to date.
• If you believe you’ve been victimized, disconnect the potentially infected device(s) from the Internet and run anti-virus/anti-malware scans.
• If sensitive information was entered, then change passwords for compromised accounts, monitor for unauthorized activity, and review the Identity Theft and Compromised PII NJCCIC Informational Report for additional recommendations and resources, including credit freezes.
• If you are a Linden resident, then report malicious cyber activity to the Linden Police Department, as well as the NJCCIC and the FBI’s IC3.