(WXYZ) — The Michigan Attorney General's Office is warning residents of a new toll road phishing scam that is impersonating 36th District Court in Detroit.
According to the AG's office, the latest scam involves a fraudulent text with an image that says a notice of a civil infraction hearing over a toll violation.
The scam also includes a QR code that leads to a deceptive website that is designed to appear legitimate from the Michigan Department of State.
“Scammers are using toll road scams to scare residents into turning over their hard-earned money,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement.. “When in doubt, always follow your instincts and never share personal and financial information because you received an urgent text message. Verify any claims with the 36th District Court or any entity a scammer is claiming to represent.”
Other text scams have included references to arrest warrants, undelivered packages and job offers.
The AG's office said these are signs of phishing and smishing texts:
- It's unsolicited.
- It's sent from an unusually long phone number (10 or more digits).
- Includes a link that is likely shortened or scrambled.
- It's written with a sense of urgency.
- Contains grammatical and spelling errors.
- Requests personal or financial information.
