A phishing scam using phony texts that tell recipients they are facing penalties, even prosecution, due to unpaid traffic fines has reached Iowa, according to a news release from the Iowa Department of Transportation.
“Fraudulent text messages appearing to come from the Iowa DOT or ‘DMV’ are targeting recipients with false claims of unpaid traffic violations,” the department said. “Individuals are also receiving fraudulent Iowa DOT-generated text messages stating that they have an unpaid toll or registration fee. Both types of texts ask recipients to click on a link to provide personal information as well as credit card numbers. Many times, the link will lead to a website that looks like the Iowa DOT’s website.”
The scam had earlier been reported in states around the country.
The Iowa DOT sends text messages to confirm scheduled appointments in some cases, but never sends text messages about collections and “will never text customers asking for private or financial information,” the news release said.
“Any payment requests from the Iowa DOT are made through personal transaction, via physical mail, or through an online transaction initiated by the customer.”
USA Today reported that as of May 30, people in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania had received the scam texts. On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and several police departments in the state issued warnings about the scam after receiving reports about the text message from residents.
