INDIANAPOLIS — The Federal Trade Commission issued a warning Tuesday about a growing traffic enforcement text scam.
WRTV Investigates has received messages from many Indiana drivers about a message claiming to be from the Marion County Superior Court’s Traffic Division.
The text from “Judge Michael Rodriguez” references violations for failure to pay an electronic toll, as well as parking and speeding violations.
The message includes a QR code to make a full payment on outstanding tolls, civil penalties and court costs.
The Federal Trade Commission says if you scan it, the scammers will try to steal personal information (like your Social Security or credit card number), download malware on your
phone, and steal your money.
“Scammers want you to act quickly, so the text will also list bad things that can happen if
you don’t respond now: default judgements, fines, enforcement actions,” the FTC said in a statement.
The FTC says if you get a text like this, don’t respond, and don’t scan the QR code.
If you think the message might be real, check the court’s website for case information or call the court directly — but use a website or phone number you know is correct, not info from the text message.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita also offered the following tips:
- Do Not click on any links in unsolicited email or text messages.
- Do Not provide personal information, such as your driver’s license number or Social Security number.
- Do Not share any card or account information through text messages or unverified links.
- Report the unwanted text messages as junk on the app you use and block the phone number or email address.
- Contact your phone provider for call/text blocking solutions. Many manufacturers have built-in features to block unwanted calls or offer apps to block and label potential spam calls. Click here [click.subscription.in.gov] for a list of resources available.
- Forward spam emails to the FTC at spam@uce.gov and report at reportFraud.ftc.gov [click.subscription.in.gov]
