HARRISBURG—Attorney General Josh Shapiro is warning Pennsylvanians applying for hunting, fishing and pet licenses to be careful of fraudulent websites posing as official Commonwealth application portals.
“Pennsylvanians should stay vigilant for scammers who are fishing for their personal data with these fake application sites,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “If you find a suspicious website that may be posing as an official Commonwealth agency, I encourage you to reach out and report it to my Office’s Bureau of Consumer Protection.”
The Office of Attorney General recommends that Pennsylvanians who are applying for licenses should take some important steps to protect themselves from potential scams:
- Rather than using a search engine to reach a website to purchase a dog license, type licenseyourdogpa.pa.gov directly into your browser’s address bar;
- When in doubt, call your county treasurer’s office. Each county treasurer has a different process; while most offer an online option for purchase of licenses, some do not and require a paper form to be dropped off or mailed.
- Visit the only official Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission site, fishandboat.com
- Visit pgc.pa.gov to find the official Pennsylvania Game Commission site. Additionally, sportsmen seeking to purchase doe tags may only submit their doe tag application to their county treasurer’s office through the U.S. Postal Service.
If you have a concern about a third-party website, contact the PA Attorney General Bureau of Consumer Protection at scams@attorneygeneral.gov or 1-800-441-2555.
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