What happened
FMCSA has added a Motus impersonation warning to its official fraud-alert page. The agency says carriers are receiving emails with the subject line ‘Notice of Required Off-Cycle Update- Motus email’ and a button labeled ‘New MOTUS Portal.’ Those messages route users to four fake addresses: dot.motusdatasboard.com, dot.motusdatadesk.com, dot.motuswebdeck.com and dot.motusfunction.com. Do not visit or enter information on them. The legitimate federal registration system is Motus—not an acronym in all caps—and its official address is https://motus.dot.gov/.
What drivers should do
Treat urgency as a warning sign, especially when a message asks for Login.gov credentials, identity documents, EIN information, payment or immediate carrier-profile changes. Open a fresh browser window and type motus.dot.gov yourself instead of following an email, text, QR code or sponsored-search link. Before entering data, confirm the browser shows HTTPS and the hostname ends exactly in .dot.gov—not a .com address containing words such as DOT, FMCSA or Motus. Small carriers should limit registration access, use unique passwords and multifactor authentication, and require a second employee or owner to verify unexpected profile-update requests.
Why this matters to our community
If someone clicked a suspicious link, stop entering information, disconnect the affected device from sensitive accounts, change exposed passwords from a clean device and review Login.gov and carrier-registration activity. Save the original message, full sender address, headers, screenshots, URL and time; do not forward the link to coworkers except through a secure incident report. FMCSA directs targets to its Contact Center at 1-800-832-5660 and says suspected scams may also be reported to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the FBI’s IC3 at ic3.gov, local police or a state attorney general. Drivers should alert the carrier owner or safety manager rather than attempting a company-registration update alone. Useful English terms include phishing, impersonation, off-cycle update, suspicious link, official domain, credentials, account takeover and incident report.