WA.gov-hrw.com
Not an official
website of Washington State
WA.gov-hrw.com Not an official
website of Washington State
They look a lot like this. I have gone out of my way to make this site look not real in other ways. "This is not a government website" will probably not be spawled at the top of the screen. For ethical and practical reasons I have taken many steps to ensure visitors of this site have as many opertunities to observe that this site is not offical. I'm trying to make it clear I am not the government, nor do I work for the government. Scam sites will not give you that luxary, they want you to think there legit.
Wa.gov is a government website. It ends in .gov, that makes sense. This site looks like it ends in .gov, but its not. This site ends in .com which is available to anybody. The subdomain wa.xxx is available for every website. If I wanted I could make this site butt.gov-hrw.com Be careful that the last .com/.net/.tv is actually a .gov This is the marker of an offical government website
Try clicking on the nav bar at the top of the screen. Tickets, pricing, etc buttons dont do anything. Thats not because of your wifi, they just dont do anything. Often times websites that are fake wont have fully functional buttons. If you try other buttons on this site that should do something when clicked, you will find it just don't.
Scam sites are caught qucikly. Whoever sends you to one needs you to to act quick. Often you will be threated with high fines, punishments or other punitive action. If you think that a text message or email is from government, do a quick google search of the fines and penalties. Odds are whats on the books will not agree with what you were told.
Poor spelling, unproffesonal writing or an off feeling are all hints your being scamed. Governments often employ professionals who are not going to make mistakes like this. AI is also often used to build sites rapidly. Use common sense and if things feel off, go to a government office. Someone who works at the government will be able to verify if a site is legitimate.
Scam sites will also prompt you to a button or form to put personal info as soon as possible. I did not do that, but expect buttons like shown below. Also, loading screens or delays can be faked, just because you see a loading wheel does not mean somthing is happening