Florida DMV warns public about fake websites

DHSMV official website (photo by Valeria Sistrunk)

If you’re online looking for the official Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) website, well you better take a second look.

Today, there are a number of fake websites pretending to be the official DHSMV page.  The purpose of the fake pages is to lure people into paying unnecessary fees.

Kristin Olsen-Doolan, spokesperson for the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said, “Consumers have to be careful, beware and check it out. Make sure it’s actually our website and not some imitator.”

Some official-looking websites require users to pay a fee for their assistance, and provide outdated or inaccurate information.

Websites such as floridadriverslicense.org and dmvflorida.org lure people into paying for services that are usually free on the official site.  Most imitation websites place disclaimers at the bottom of the page, warning visitors it’s not an official site. However, in most cases the small print goes unnoticed.

Lisa Degiorgio, a resident of Leon County, said she had no idea about the fake websites. “If there is anything that sort of asks for information or charges for anything, I think that I might just pick up the phone and maybe try calling to get some additional information,” said Degiorgio, “Especially now that I know something like this is happening.”

When searching for the official website, DHSMV warns the public to look for the words “Official Website of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles” located at the top of their home-page.

Florida Part-Time Employees Receive Health Coverage

If you’re a part-time employee in the state of Florida, you might have one less thing to worry about. Thursday, members of a Florida House panel reluctantly agreed to extend coverage to all part-time employees.

If they didn’t agree, the state would have to pay a fine of up to almost $300 million under President Obama’s federal health care law.

At a committee meeting in Tallahassee, Republican representative Gayle Harrell said the state had no choice. “Unfortunately, we have been put in a box where the fines come so untenable, if you don’t allow for participation, that we have no choice but to allow for participation,” said Harrell.

Some lawmakers even suggest offering part-time workers scaled-down benefits as a way to save money.  State officials estimate it might cost Florida about 36 million dollars to cover part-time employees who work on average about 30-hours per week.

Some of those who are currently employed part-time welcome the new health coverage.  Zachary Taylor, a recent Florida State graduate, now works part-time at Target Copy.  He says he supports the new coverage.

“I like the bill because insurance is pretty important and a lot of people can’t afford it, especially if they have to pay for utility and school and a lot of stuff like that. Insurance is kind of a back thought, when it should be right up front,” said Taylor.

Many of the states part-time employees work in the health sector and the university system.  State officials say Florida could also face a $50 million increase in order to make its health plan for full-time employees comply with the federal health law.

From Books to Business: Flavs by 31

The turkey "Bad Boy" (photo by Autumn Harris)

She’s young, talented, and at the age of 22 she already owns her own successful business. 

Autumn Harris, creator of “Flavs by 31”, is a Florida A&M University senior majoring in social work.  Harris says despite her major she decided to start her own business doing something she’s passionate about. 

“Flavs by 31” offers customers home cooked meals every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  From her menu, customers can choose from a variety of different soul food plates such as the Bad Boy, the Family Reunion and the Michelle Obama.  Harris also donates $1 from every order to the “National Juvenile Association for Juvenile Diabetes”.

“I had the idea in my mind awhile ago, and I just went for it.  I thought to myself ‘this is what I’m going to do’,” said Harris. 

In December she began spreading the word about her business though word of mouth and social media sites such as Instagram and Twitter.  Now, Harris says she currently sells an estimated 45 plates per weekend.

Kalena Green, a management professor in the School of Business & Industry, says she thinks its excellent for students to apply what they’re passionate about in a way that earns them income and experience. “It’s never too soon to execute a well-developed strategic (business) plan,” said Green, “A colleague of mine has a younger sibling who started an entertainment and promotion business while attending FAMU. He’s doing very well.”

In today’s unsteady economy, more students are choosing to start their own business rather than wait for after graduation employment.  For example, Mark Zuckerberg co-founded The Facebook back in 2004 from his dorm room at Harvard University.  Now, five years later, Facebook is a million dollar business with over 300 million users.

Unfortunately for some, starting a new business can be tricky. 

According to the book “The Incredible Shrinking Failure Rate”, research indicates that almost 60% of small businesses fail within five years of start up.

Green says when it comes to starting a new business hard work and capitalization is key. “The primary factor students must consider in any economy is whether or not they’re willing to put in the work,” said Green, “There’s no magic involved in entrepreneurial success.”

Harris isn’t the only student to start her own business in college, and she certainly won’t be the last.  “I love to cook for people,” said Harris, “It’s something I see myself doing for the rest of my life.”

To get more information on how to order meals from “Flavs by 31”, check out @Flavsby31 via Instagram.