The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation reminds its customers to exercise caution while renewing their driver’s license or vehicle registration online, and to make sure that they’re on PennDOT’s official Driver and Vehicle Services website, www.dmv.pa.gov, for making these transactions.

For the safety of our customers’ identities, PennDOT will never ask for, nor accept, any identity documents over the internet or over text messages for any reason. Any website or text message claiming to provide this service is not affiliated with PennDOT.

As such, customers should not submit any images of personal documents to such websites or texts as they will not be transmitted to PennDOT and could be used for fraudulent purposes.

“PennDOT is proud to provide our customers with comprehensive online services, like vehicle and driver’s license renewal, address changes, and much more,” said Penn­DOT Secretary Yassmin Gramian. “However, it’s important that customers ensure that they are on PennDOT’s official site before completing a transaction.”

Additionally, third-party websites can appear “official,” and often pay search engines to appear at the top of search results for common terms, like “renew vehicle registration” or “driver’s license.”

There are a few simple tips to help customers ensure that they are visiting PennDOT’s official website:

Rather than using a search engine to reach the PennDOT Driver and Vehicle Services website, enter the web address www.dmv.pa.gov directly into your browser’s address bar.

PennDOT does not charge any additional service or transaction fees for completing online transactions. If you are charged any additional fees, you aren’t on the PennDOT website.

Look for the words “An Official Pennsylvania Government Website” in the top left corner. Many commonwealth websites display these words as an additional security measure.

If a customer has concerns about a third-party website, they can contact the PA Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection at 800-441-2555 or visit their website.