The Miami-Dade tax collector, Dariel Fernandez, issued a warning to county residents after receiving reports of individuals who obtained appointment confirmations through a website that is not part of the official system and later found out that those appointments were not valid.
Fernandez explained this Friday in a post on X that the reports are related to ZipAppointments.com, a platform that provides appointments for services at locations that may seem connected to the Miami-Dade Tax Collector's Office.
“These appointments were not made through the official system of the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector’s Office and are not valid appointments with our office,” he warned.
The Tax Collector's Office confirmed the alert and noted that residents have arrived at their facilities with confirmations issued by ZipAppointments that are not registered in the official system.
Fernandez urged the public to not provide personal information, make payments, or book appointments through unofficial websites.
"Protecting our residents also means ensuring they know where to safely access our services," he noted.
The only portal recognized by the office for directly managing your appointments is mdctaxcollector.gov. From there, users can select the appropriate option to schedule a visit to the offices managed by the collector.
Fernandez also recommended that anyone who has already received a confirmation through ZipAppointments or another external platform verify the alleged appointment before heading to an office.
To do this, the institution has enabled the number (305) 375-5448, the same official phone number published by the Miami-Dade Tax Collector's Office.
The public broadcaster WLRN reported this week that the issue came to light after individuals began showing up at the offices with third-party confirmations that did not correspond to existing appointments in the county's system.
"No family should provide personal information, pay an external website, or take a day off work for an appointment that does not exist in our system," Fernandez had warned in a statement released by his office.
The issue of intermediaries and irregular appointments is not new in Miami-Dade, and in previous years, it has affected several residents.
In 2025, for example, county authorities approved measures against the resale of appointments for driver's licenses after detecting networks that were hoarding free appointments through bots and fake accounts, which were then offered to residents in exchange for money.
Later, Florida toughened the penalties against those who resell appointments, amidst efforts to curb a business that had caused long waits and difficulties in accessing free services.
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