Yesterday I got a scary-sounding text message, claiming that I have an outstanding traffic ticket in a certain state, and threatening me with the following if I did not pay within two days:
We will take the following actions:
1. Report to the DMV Breach Database
2. Suspend your vehicle registration starting June 2
3. Suspension of driving privileges for 30 days…
4. You may be sued and your credit score will suffer
Please pay immediately before execution to avoid license suspension and further legal disputes.
Oh, my!
A link (which I did NOT click on) was provided for “payment”.
I also got an almost (not quite) identical text a few days earlier. I was almost sure these were scams, but it was comforting to confirm that by going to the web and reading that, yes, these sorts of texts are the flavor of the month in remote rip-offs; as a rule, states do not send out threatening texts with payment links in them.
These texts are examples of “smishing”, which is phishing (to collect identity or bank/credit card information) via SMS text messaging. It must be a lucrative practice. According to spam blocker Robokiller, Americans received 19.2 billion spam robo texts in May 2025. That’s nearly 63 spam texts for every person in the U.S.
Beside these traffic ticket scams, I often get texts asking me to click to track delivery of some package, or to prevent the misuse of my credit card, etc. I have been spared text messages from the Nigerian prince who needs my help to claim his rightful inheritance; I did get an email from him some years back.
The FTC keeps a database called Sentinel on fraud complaints made to the FTC and to law enforcement agencies. People reported losing a total of $12 billion to fraud in 2024, an increase of $2 billion over the previous year. That is a LOT of money (and a commentary on how wealthy Americans are, if that much can get skimmed off with little net impact on society). The biggest single category for dollar loss was investment; the number of victims was smaller than for other categories, but the loss per victim ($9,200) was quite high. Other areas with high median losses per capita were Business and Job Opportunities ($2,250) and Mortgage Foreclosure Relief and Debt Management ($1,500).
Imposter scams like the texts I have gotten (sender pretending to be from state DMV, post office, bank, credit card company, etc.) were by far the largest category by number reported (845,806 in 2024). Of those imposter reports, 22% involved actual losses ($800 median loss), totaling a hefty $2,952 million. That is a juicy enough haul to keep those robo frauds coming.
How to not get scammed: Be suspicious of every email or text, especially ones that prey on emotions like fear or greed or curiosity and try to engage you to payments or for prying information out of you. If it purports to come from some known entity like Bank of America or your state DMV, contact said entity directly to check it out. If you don’t click on anything (or reply in any way to the text, like responding with Y or N), it can’t hurt you.
I’m not sure how much they can do, considering the bad guys tend to hijack legit phone numbers for their dirty work, but you can mark these texts as spam to help your phone carrier improve their spam detection algorithm. Also, reporting scam texts to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and/or the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center can help build their data set, and perhaps lead to law enforcement actions.
Later add: According to EZPass, here is how to report text scams:
You can report smishing messages to your cell carrier by following this FCC guidance. This service is provided by most cell carriers.
- Hold down the spam TXT/SMS message with your finger
- Select the “Forward” option
- Enter 7726 as the recipient and press “Send”
Additionally, to report the message to the FBI, visit the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3.gov) and select ‘File a Complaint’ to do so. When completing the complaint, include the phone number where the smishing text originated, and the website link listed within the text.
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