Rhode Island officials warn residents of text message scam

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhode Island officials are warning residents of a text message scam.

Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea and Attorney General Peter Neronha say the texts claim to be from the Rhode Island Department of State and encourage the recipients to sign up for a “COVID-19 Safe Drive to Work.”

They say the program does not exist, and the text messages are not from the Rhode Island Department of State.

Anyone who receives these scam messages should not click any links or reply to the message, they said, and instead should contact the attorney general’s Consumer Protection Unit.