Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Alongside the record-setting pace of gun sales across the country, we’re also seeing a sharp increase in the number of people applying for their concealed carry license. In fact, the growing number of Americans embracing their right to carry has now led to a new scam aimed directly at concealed carry license holders and those who’ve been thinking about applying for a license of their own. According to multiple law enforcement agencies, the scam involves texts or emails warning the recipient that “today is the last day” for them to apply for a concealed carry license.
The scam has popped up in a number of states, from Massachusetts to Alabama to Utah, and all follow the same similar pattern. Here’s how one Utah law enforcement agency described the scam.
The Department of Public Safety is warning people of a new text scam that asks for personal information after referencing concealed firearm permits. DPS says that the fake texts have an embedded link which scammers use to access personal information. It doesn’t matter whether or not you actually have a concealed firearm permit, you may still get the text.
Obviously if you’re not a concealed carry licensee the scam is likely to be ignored, but for the roughly 20-million Americans who do possess a carry license, this could be an issue.
At least one agency reports that the phishing emails and texts claim they’re from a company called Permitium, which is a real business that provides fingerprinting and other services to law enforcement agencies. The company recently sent out an email to its clients warning of the scam and advising that no genuine text message alerts from the company will contain links.
If you do receive one of these messages, don’t click the link. Instead, the company asks you to report the scam here.
Remember, law enforcement agencies aren’t going to send you emails or texts asking you for personal information. You might get a reminder in the mail about your soon-to-expire carry license depending on your local sheriff, but not a text or an email that contains a link where you can submit your personal information, no matter how official looking it may be.
There’s no telling how widespread this scam is at the moment, but given the number of law enforcement agencies warning residents about it, it appears to be a genuine concern and a real threat for identify theft or worse. When it doubt, throw out any emails or texts that you suspect are part of this scam in order to keep your bank ac
https://bearingarms.com/cam-e/2020/12/28/beware-scam-targeting-concealed-carry/