Penalty notice wrongly labelled “scam” by police
Police have had to retract a scam warning posted to a local police unit’s Facebook page after it turned out to be a legitimate penalty notice.
A photo of a vehicle registration cancellation notice was posted on Facebook and shared by people who believed the penalty notice was illegitimate.
The Facebook page of the Richmond Police District in the NSW Northern Rivers region also shared the post with a caption: “This is a new scam I have not seen before. On first glance [the penalty notice] does look convincing. Take a closer look though; it does not have the car rego, offence details or the licence number.”
A senior officer was quoted in local media warning drivers to check with the NSW State Recovery Office if they received a similar notice.
But it turns out the “scam” isn’t a scam after all. A spokeswoman from Revenue NSW confirmed to news.com.au that the penalty notice “is genuine”.
The spokeswoman was concerned that people may believe the penalty notice was illegitimate, and suggested several methods for checking a notice’s legitimacy.
“Revenue NSW is concerned by reports on social media claiming that a legitimate enforcement letter is a scam,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
“If a customer is unsure about whether a notice they have received is legitimate, there are a number of steps they can take to check its validity.
“These include [checking if] previous notices been received for unpaid fines. Revenue NSW will issue up to three notices prior to taking action with Roads and Maritime Services.
“If a fine has not been paid it in full by the due date, Revenue NSW will take action to recover the debt by suspending the driver’s license or vehicle registration. This action can be confirmed by contacting Revenue NSW or Roads and Maritime Services”.