State and local agencies are warning Kansans about a new wave of text-message scams that appear to come from the Kansas Division of Vehicles about unpaid traffic tickets or toll alerts.
The text alerts threaten that unless recipients pay through a website “that is a near-perfect replica of the official . . . portal,” they could face a suspended vehicle registration or driver’s license, along with “additional service fees,” according to a Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office press release.
“The scam begins with an unsolicited text message claiming that the recipient’s driver’s license is at risk of suspension due to ‘unpaid traffic citations’ or ‘unresolved violations,’” the DA’s press release read. “To create a sense of panic, the message often includes a strict deadline (e.g., ‘by the end of the day’) and threatens additional 35% processing fees or legal action.”
URLs used in smishing attempts may end in “.org”, “.net”, or a string of random characters rather than the official “.gov” domain…