The FBI is warning of a particularly sinister text threat, which appears to be a new spin on an old scam.
Cybercriminals are sending fake text messages posing as the Department of Motor Vehicles in various states, to catch people off-guard, scare them, and then attempt to steal their money and, potentially, their identity, WREG-TV reported.
The scam texts “[share] an urgent message about a supposed unpaid ticket and even [threaten] prosecution,” per the outlet.
“Smishing,” per IBM‘s Matthew Kosinski, is a combination of “short message service” — or SMS — and “phishing,” which form the technology behind these deceptive text messages.
In a Krebs on Security article, Ford Merrill, who works in security research at SecAlliance, explained that China-based cybercriminals are selling SMS phishing kits in order “to phish enough information from victims that their payment cards can be added to mobile wallets and used to buy goods at physical stores, online, or to launder money through shell companies.”
In March, Forbes highlighted the scope and scale of this scam attack, with one expert calling it “astronomical” and “alarming.” In February alone over 19 billion spam texts were sent to the U.S.
WREG warned on June 11, scammers are trying to use local law enforcement department names to trick people.
FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Palmer told the outlet, “It costs next to nothing for [the scammers] to use these algorithms to send these messages and calls out, but in return, they can achieve getting your personal information, putting malware on your phone, which then can go in and steal information from your device, or collect your payment information.”
Palmer explained that the unpaid ticket texts are probably copycats of the toll scam messages the FBI had previously warned about.
Have you received one of these fishy text messages in the last year?
Have you received a text suggesting you may owe unpaid tolls on your vehicle? There is a good chance it’s a fraudster trying to get your personal information. Learn more about this scam here: https://t.co/zYW4AzhdzG pic.twitter.com/iSA7b4NeYN
— FBI Seattle (@FBISeattle) March 19, 2025
Palmer said, “In Tennessee, it didn’t really make sense because there are no toll roads here.”
He explained that as the criminal organizations behind the toll messages realized that people weren’t falling for unpaid tolls, they pivoted to unpaid tickets.
According to Palmer, these scam messages are controlled by criminal groups overseas, who use AI, algorithms, and other technology to send thousands of scam messages an hour. And they only need a few to respond.
Palmer advised that these scams only work if people engage with the scammers, warning, “If you don’t know who it’s from, don’t click on the link.”
Palmer ended by saying “We take all these very seriously, and we encourage anyone who has received these messages and especially anyone who has clicked the link or sent money to immediately go to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.”
WREG shared the following Ways to Tell the Text is a Scam:
- Look for spelling or grammatical errors in the text
- Remember that real government agencies won’t send texts
- Watch for slightly different logos and names mimicking government agencies.
While investigating these fraudulent texts, a WREG investigator personally received one of these scam messages stating it was from the “Tennessee Department of Vehicles.” This sent up immediate red flags because the “Tennessee Department of Vehicles” is not a legitimate state agency.
Palmer’s advice is to do a quick search for contact information for the department listed in the scam text message and try calling them directly.
The New York Post shared that the following states reportedly affected by these scam ticket texts so far include: Tennessee, New York, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, and Texas, as well as Washington D.C.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
