KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — This week, the Tennessee Highway Patrol warned drivers about a new traffic ticket text scam and now its spreading quickly but in the form of a group chat with several other numbers across East Tennessee.6 News sat down with a woman who spotted the scam, and she shared how she knew something wasn’t right. East Tennessee resident Kimmy Lowe was scrolling through her phone, like she does most days, when a strange message popped up.
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It was a group text, sent to her and several other Tennessee numbers, claiming to be a final notice from the “Tennessee DMV.” The message demanded payment for an “outstanding traffic ticket” and threatened to suspend her vehicle registration and driving privileges. It ended with a suspicious-looking link to pay.
“I’ve always gotten these text messages but never in a group chat, and I thought it was weird,” said LoweShe said the red flags were obvious; it was a group message sent to multiple strangers, the area code 976 doesn’t exist and most importantly, official agencies don’t contact people via text about tickets or fines. But what happened next surprised her, instead of ignoring the scam, people in the group started talking—first about the text, then about random things.“It’s like a whole group chat now. Like, everyone’s texting throughout today even. This happened like yesterday or two days ago, and everyone’s texting, like ‘Good morning, guys’ and it’s like, ‘Oh, good morning.’ Like, I don’t even know who I’m texting right now. But yeah. And it’s kind of cool in the sense, like the scam just bought like whole bunch of people together in a sense. But it’s also like, what in the world?” explained LoweAs a 22-year-old Lowe says she’s quick to spot scams like this, but she’s worried about older people who may not. So she went to Facebook to alert others.
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“It’s just kind of very shocking how people take advantage of the older folks in Tennessee and just in the U.S., trying to get money out of the older people, and they just fall for it. I’m sure half of them tap them or get a virus on their phone or even sent money to whoever this person was, it’s just kind of frightening,” added Lowe.
If you receive a text like this, it is advised you to delete it and block the number. Refrain from clicking the link or providing any personal or financial information. If you did interact with the link monitor your accounts for unusual activity…