Imposter State Sites Could Lead to Motorists Spending Money on Free Information

Amy Gross-Kehoe's Google search landed her on what the state calls a “squatter” site designed to look like the Secretary of State’s website CyberDrive Illinois.

Amy Gross-Kehoe has lived in six states and registered her car in each of them. But when the Skokie woman moved here 18 months ago, she did not know the state -- thanks to cost-cutting measures -- wouldn’t be sending her a reminder to renew her license plate. She learned by getting pulled over by police.

“I was driving along and the lights from a police car flashed in the back of my car,” Gross-Kehoe told NBC 5 Responds. “I thought oh gosh, what did I do? Did I miss a sign? What did I do?”

Gross-Kehoe got off with a warning and, at the suggestion of the officer, went home to jump online to renew. Her Google search landed her on what the state calls a “squatter” site designed to look like the Secretary of State’s website CyberDrive Illinois.

"It said registration and information,” Gross-Kehoe recalled. “There still was an Illinois html on there.”

Following instructions step-by-step on a website called MyCarReg.org, none of Gross-Kehoe’s warning bells went off until she paid the $23 fee. Instead of getting a renewal, she got a 26-page brochure that walks drivers through the registration process. MyCarReg.org is a site that is in no way affiliated with any government agency, which is noted in a disclosure on the bottom of its homepage.

"I've registered my car in 6 states, shouldn't be this hard," Gross-Kehoe complained.

Secretary of State spokesperson Dave Druker says she is not alone.

"The sites have very similar names and they’re offering services that are very similar to what the department of motor vehicles might be," Druker said.

Unlike many other states, the only portal for drivers in Illinois is the Secretary of State’s Office, which urges drivers to be aware of the imposters.

When NBC 5 Responds called the website Gross-Kehoe paid to ask why it’s charging for information that’s free from the state, they told us it’s against their policy to talk to the media. When we asked them to reach out to our viewer directly, they did, and agreed to give her a refund.

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