{"id":3697,"date":"2019-12-02T11:50:27","date_gmt":"2019-12-02T16:50:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/?page_id=3697"},"modified":"2019-12-02T11:56:26","modified_gmt":"2019-12-02T16:56:26","slug":"virginia-department-of-health-warns-of-fake-vital-records-websites-scam-sites-are-charging-virginians-a-fee-for-application-forms","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/virginia-department-of-health-warns-of-fake-vital-records-websites-scam-sites-are-charging-virginians-a-fee-for-application-forms\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Department of Health Warns of Fake\u00a0Vital\u00a0Records\u00a0Websites – Scam Sites are Charging Virginians a Fee for Application Forms"},"content":{"rendered":"

For Immediate Release \u2013 December 2, 2019
\nMedia Contact: <\/strong>Maria Reppas, maria.reppas@vdh.virginia.gov<\/a><\/p>\n

Virginia Department of Health Warns of Fake Vital Records Websites
\n<\/strong>Scam Sites are Charging Virginians a Fee for Application Forms<\/em><\/p>\n

(Richmond, Va.) \u2014\u00a0<\/strong>Today, the State Health Commissioner warned Virginians not to use any third party services to obtain vital records and not to pay any fee for vital records application forms, which have always been and always will be free.\u00a0 Although the forms are free, there are fees for searches.\u00a0 Please ensure that any required payment goes directly to the Office of Vital Records. Official information and application forms are available at any Vital Records office<\/a>\u00a0in Virginia and the\u00a0VDH website<\/a>.\u00a0 The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is also an\u00a0official resource<\/a>\u00a0for vital records information.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Virginia Department of Health\u2019s Office of Vital Records and the DMV are always available to provide low or no cost resources to all Virginians.\u00a0 Use of an unauthorized, outside entity is costly and completely unnecessary,\u201d said Dr. M. Norman Oliver, State Health Commissioner.\u00a0 \u201cWhen Googling information, please make sure to only use official VDH and DMV websites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many forms and transactions can be downloaded or performed on the Office of Vital Records\u2019 website.\u00a0 Before proceeding with any download or transaction, VDH advises Virginians to make sure\u00a0www.vdh.virginia.gov<\/a>\u00a0is in the address bar.<\/p>\n

The VDH Office of Vital Records has received complaints from customers who have mistakenly ordered and paid for vital records application forms from third party websites.\u00a0 These online services have no affiliation with the VDH Office of Vital Records or any state government entity. These unaffiliated websites are also charging consumers unnecessary and inflated fees for vital records, and this trend appears to be a nationwide problem.<\/p>\n

Information regarding how to acquire a certified Virginia vital record can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For Immediate Release \u2013 December 2, 2019 Media Contact: Maria Reppas, maria.reppas@vdh.virginia.gov Virginia Department of Health Warns of Fake Vital Records Websites Scam Sites are Charging Virginians a Fee for Application Forms (Richmond, Va.) \u2014\u00a0Today, the State Health Commissioner warned Virginians not to use any third party services to obtain vital records and not to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":0,"parent":41,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3697","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nVirginia Department of Health Warns of Fake\u00a0Vital\u00a0Records\u00a0Websites - Scam Sites are Charging Virginians a Fee for Application Forms - Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/news\/public-relations-contacts\/archived-news-releases\/virginia-department-of-health-warns-of-fake-vital-records-websites-scam-sites-are-charging-virginians-a-fee-for-application-forms\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Virginia Department of Health Warns of Fake\u00a0Vital\u00a0Records\u00a0Websites - 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