Latest news with #AlexiGiannoulias
CBS News
22-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Orland Park DMV abruptly closing after trustee vote, Illinois secretary of state says
One of Illinois' busiest Secretary of State facilities is abruptly closing after Orland Township trustees voted to revoke its lease. The trustees claimed people going to the DMV at 14807 South Ravinia Ave. in Orland Park are causing disruptions and security concerns. At a Monday night board meeting, trustees said they have had issues with police calls over disturbances at the facility. The trustees said there is no separation between the Secretary of State facility and the rest of the building it's housed in. They said people go into the township building and trustees' offices while looking for the DMV. The trustees also said there are long lines in extreme weather despite people having appointments, and they dislike the signs outside because they make it look "like a flea market." Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias released a statement, saying the trustees made the decision in a 3-2 vote "without providing notice or consulting with Secretary of State staff." The statement goes onto say the board "failed their constituents and the taxpayers they are elected to serve." It was not immediately clear if the closure was effective immediately or when it would go into effect.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Urgent warning issued in 5 US states over text scam stealing bank accounts: Delete these messages NOW
Millions of Americans are being hit by a dangerous wave of fake text messages that appear to come from official Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) offices. The messages, which first surfaced in May 2025, claim recipients owe an unpaid fine or toll and urge them to resolve the issue by clicking a link. That link leads to a counterfeit website designed to steal sensitive personal information, including bank logins, Social Security numbers, and phone credentials. Officials say the scam is spreading swiftly across several states, with California, New York, Florida, Georgia, and Illinois among the hardest hit. Alexi Giannoulias, the Secretary of State of Illinois, warned: 'Don't be fooled by phony text messages threatening 'suspension of driving privileges.' The attacks, known as smishing (SMS phishing), have grown more convincing than ever. Scammers are now using AI-generated language and domain spoofing to build fake websites that closely mimic official government portals. In New York, traffic attorney James Medows said he's seen a rise in clients who unknowingly paid fake citations. 'These scams work because they feel urgent and personal,' he said. 'A real DMV ticket won't come with threats over text. Always confirm through the DMV before clicking anything.' California DMV Director Steve Gordon issued a statewide alert after residents reported receiving scam texts claiming unpaid tolls. 'These messages looked like they came from us,' Gordon said. 'The safest way to respond is to visit our official website or call our contact center directly.' The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has also confirmed similar reports. Victims are told their driver's license or registration will be suspended unless they pay a fraudulent fee through a link provided in the message. In response, local governments, including the New York City Council, are calling for widespread public awareness campaigns to help residents recognize and report scam tactics. 'Legitimate government agencies will rarely, if ever, contact you by text message for sensitive matters,' officials warned. Although Georgia has no official DMV, scammers are spoofing the Department of Driver Services (DDS). The texts use near-identical domains to trick residents into clicking links. The attack, called smishing (SMS phishing), involves text messages designed to look like they're from local DMV or toll authorities Commissioner Angelique McClendon said in a statement: 'DDS employees do not contact customers to ask for payment or other confidential information.' In Illinois, messages claim to be from a fake 'Illinois State DMV' and threaten to revoke vehicle registration. Officials clarified the state only sends text reminders for scheduled appointments, not license or registration updates. Secretary Giannoulias is urging residents to delete the messages and report them immediately. The FTC says smishing now ranks among the top causes of fraud, contributing to the $12 billion in consumer losses reported in 2024. Many of these attacks rely on domain names like or designed to look trustworthy. Because these messages are often generated using AI, they are free of the grammar and spelling errors that once signaled a scam. Investigators believe much of the operation is run from overseas, making prosecution difficult. The FCC recommends registering your number with the National Do Not Call Registry. Officials urge reporting suspicious texts by forwarding them to 7726 (SPAM) or filing a report at
Axios
01-07-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Illinois officials say Texas breached abortion protection law
Illinois officials say a Texas sheriff has violated a law meant to protect people seeking abortions in the state, but all parties involved say the breach was a mistake rather than ill intent. Why it matters: In 2023, Illinois became the first state to make it illegal for law enforcement to use automated license plate readers, or ALPR, to track or penalize individuals seeking abortions or to criminalize a person's immigration status. Catch up quick: Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced this month that a Texas sheriff's office searched more than 80,000 ALPR cameras in search of a woman whose family said had a self-administered abortion. Suburban Mount Prospect was one of the Illinois police departments searched. Between the lines: The Mount Prospect Police Department said in a statement it didn't know the department had opted into a feature that allowed other law enforcement agencies, including the one in Texas, to search its ALPR data. What they're saying: "I am tremendously upset that some law enforcement agencies who agreed to follow Illinois law, in order to gain access to our ALPR data, conducted illegal searches violating the trust of our community," Mount Prospect chief of police Michael Eterno said in a statement. "As disappointed as I am with these other agencies, I want to emphasize that no member of the Mount Prospect Police Department shared ALPR data in violation of the law." The other side: The license plate readers' operator, Flock Safety, says since learning of this incident in May, it has blocked 47 law enforcement agencies from accessing Illinois ALRP data if it "conducted multiple searches using reasons impermissible under Illinois law." The company also launched a tool that requires a law enforcement agency to list a reason why it's searching the database, and if it's for reasons permissible by law, such as abortion, the searcher is blocked. Zoom in: Johnson County, Texas, Sheriff Adam King told 404 Media, who first reported the story, that they were searching for the woman for her safety. "We weren't trying to block her from leaving the state or whatever to get an abortion," King told the outlet. Axios left a voicemail for the sheriff but hasn't heard back.
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Giannoulias cracks down on plate reader abuse
Following reports that Texas police illegally accessed Illinois automatic license plate reader data to track down a woman for an abortion care-related matter, Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias announced new measures aimed at preventing further abuse. In May, law enforcement authorities in Texas performed a nationwide search of more than 83,000 ALPR cameras to locate a woman they said had a self-administered abortion. Included in the search were cameras located in states where abortion is legal – including Illinois, specifically Mount Prospect in suburban Cook County. In 2023, Giannoulias spearheaded first-in-the-nation legislation making it illegal for law enforcement in other states to use ALPR cameras to track or penalize individuals seeking abortion care or criminalize a person's immigration status. 'License plate readers can serve as an important tool for law enforcement, but these cameras must be regulated so they aren't abused for surveillance, tracking the data of innocent people or criminalizing lawful behavior,' Giannoulias said. 'No one seeking legal healthcare services in Illinois should face harassment or jail – period.' 'At Personal PAC, we work hard with our partners in government, like Secretary Giannoulias, to pass laws that protect abortion in Illinois,' said Sarah Garza Resnick, CEO of Personal PAC. 'Patients rely on Illinois for abortion access that they need, and it is on us to ensure that their right to receive that care is protected in our state. We applaud Secretary Giannoulias for taking swift action in looking into the alleged violations of the ALPR data act.' 'Illinois has taken major steps that protect immigrant rights and reproductive rights, but these policies are only effective if the law is followed,' said Lawrence Benito, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant Rights. 'We thank the Secretary of State for shutting off access to out-of-state authorities and protecting all people coming through our state.' In response to this breach, the Secretary of State's office instructed Flock Safety, which operates the ALPR network in question, to immediately shut off access for the out-of-state authorities illegally using the system. The office has also contacted the Illinois Attorney General's office to investigate the matter and is establishing an audit system with additional safeguards to ensure any law enforcement entity using an ALPR in Illinois is adhering to the law. Under the act, which took effect in 2024, law enforcement agencies must attest that ALPR data will not be used to prosecute or enforce another state's laws pertaining to abortion care or immigration status. If a law enforcement agency violates this agreement, they jeopardize their access to Illinois ALPR data and eligibility for federal and state grants. In the recent case, Mount Prospect's ALPR settings provided a gateway into Illinois' system operated by Flock for an unauthorized use, despite the Texas police stating that the reason for the search was related to abortion care. Any law enforcement entity operating the ALPR must adhere to the declaration in the law and deny such requests, according to the act. Between January 14 and April 30, there were 262 searches for immigration related matters in Mount Prospect, alone. The law still allows police to use ALPR technology for investigating felonies, carjackings, vehicle thefts and missing person alerts, but it protects a person's right to abortion access and prevents attempts to criminalize a person's immigration status. Operated by private companies, ALPRs are used in every state by most metropolitan police departments to scan license plates and provide the time and location of vehicles in real time. ALPR technology allows police to read thousands of license plates per minute from cameras placed on roadways, streetlights and squad cars.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas police 'abused' license plate data for immigration search, Illinois police say
A Texas law enforcement agency reportedly used license plate data shared by a Chicago-area police department in locating a woman for immigration enforcement purposes, despite Illinois state law prohibiting such use. The Johnson County Sheriff's Office allegedly used data from Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) — also referred to as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) — through Flock Safety, a private company. The "National Lookup" feature is used by law enforcement agencies "for purposes of immigration enforcement." The Illinois Secretary of State's Office notified the Mount Prospect Police Department that it was among multiple other law enforcement agencies whose data was used by the Texas department. "The use of ALPR data collected by Mount Prospect Flock Safety cameras for this purpose does not align with the Mount Prospect Police Department's values and is a clear violation of Illinois state law," the Chicago department stated in a press release. A site called 404 Media shows the Johnson County Sheriff's Office requested data from 83,000 of Flock Safety's cameras, including those in Mount Prospect. Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias is requesting an investigation into the incident by the attorney general, The Independent reports. He says he is also making an audit system to prevent similar uses of ALPR data in the future. A 2023 Illinois law prohibits the sharing of license plate data to track undocumented immigrants or people seeking abortions. A total of 262 immigrant-related searches were made between mid-January and April in Mount Prospect alone, Giannoulias said. Deputy Secretary of State Scott Burnham warned that such violations could lead to the loss of state funding. Giannoulias says he requested that Flock Safety block access to 62 out-of-state agencies seeking data related to abortion or immigration. The ALPR company also created a program to flag access requests with the terms "abortion" and "immigration" and deny the requests. Finally, law enforcement agencies will be required to respect the secretary of state's audits with the goal of noting trends in certain requests, Burnham explained. "I am tremendously upset that some law enforcement agencies who agreed to follow Illinois law, in order to gain access to our ALPR data, conducted illegal searches violating the trust of our community," Chief of Police Michael Eterno said. "As disappointed as I am with these other agencies, I want to emphasize that no member of the Mount Prospect Police Department shared ALPR data in violation of the law. I realize that this misuse of Mount Prospect's ALPR data violates the trust of our community, and we as a department will continue to work to enhance the Flock ALPR software and ensure this abuse does not occur in the future." Following the incident with the Johnson County Sheriff's Office, the Mount Prospect Police Department said it has made, or plans to make, several changes to prevent similar incidents in the future, including opted out of the Flock Safety "National Lookup" feature cancelled any data sharing agreement with law enforcement agencies who violated Illinois state law revoked access to Mount Prospect's ALPR data for all law enforcement agencies outside of Illinois will be updating its ALPR policy to include regular audits of the searches being conducted by internal and external users As of Friday morning, the Johnson County Sheriff's Office had not issued a public statement about the incident. The name of the individual who was the focus of the search has not been disclosed to the public. Flock Safety has released a statement amid what it calls "a misunderstanding." The ALPR company indicated contact with the Johnson County Sheriff's Office regarding the incident in Illinois, seeking to correct "misreporting" that the program was used "to target people seeking reproductive healthcare." The Sheriff allegedly told Flock Safety that this "is unequivocally false." "According to the Sheriff's office, a local family called and said their relative had self-administered an abortion, and then she ran away," Flock Safety said. "Her family feared she was hurt, and asked the deputy to search for her to the best of their abilities. Law enforcement performed a nationwide search in Flock, the broadest search possible within the system, to try to locate her quickly. Luckily, she was found safe and healthy in Dallas a couple of days later." The woman faces no charges and was never under criminal investigation, the ALPR company added, saying that Texas police were looking for her as a missing person rather than as a crime suspect. "We're grateful for the opportunity to work with Illinois officials to clarify what happened, correct misconceptions, and implement lasting improvements that uphold the trust of both law enforcement agencies and the residents they serve." — The Independent contributed to this report. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas police use of license plate data under investigation in Illinois
