The Attorney General’s Office announced Thursday that it has opened an investigation into the practice of scammers booking all of the available appointments at the Department of Motor Vehicles that taxpaying immigrants need to get a state ID.
Glenwood Springs immigration lawyer Jennifer Smith says immigrants are then forced to “buy” an appointment slot from a scammer.
"They create a false demand, and then they are using it to take advantage of people," says Smith.
The licenses are only issued through three DMV branches in Colorado - one in Colorado Springs, one in Denver and one in Grand Junction. The booking calendar for Grand Junction goes through April 2016 -- though there are 31 appointment slots daily, not a single one is available. A spokeswoman for the DMV says they have begun releasing additional appointments day-of. They also require extra screening on the online-booking page to ensure real people and not automated computers are reserving the appointments.
